Max Verstappen has called his dramatic late crash in qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix “a bit weird,” but said it should not take away from the positives from Red Bull’s big car upgrade.
Verstappen was on a scintillating lap which looked like it could propel him into the pole position picture when he spun out on the exit of the penultimate corner and hit the barrier.
His earlier lap time meant he was third when he crashed and slipped to fifth by the end of the session, which ended under caution due to his crash.
Asked if he there had been any signals the car might step out on him like it did, Verstappen told Sky Sports: “Not in that corner at all. I mean, just that lap already in Turn 6 on the entry, big moment.
“So that was a bit weird, because the whole weekend I’ve never had something like that. And then I arrived to Turn 9, I turned in and I’m immediately gone. Not even a small correction, I was just immediately full lock off.
“So that’s a bit odd, but we’ll have a look.”
Red Bull introduced a big upgrade for its home race and Verstappen had looked competitive in qualifying until the crash.
Starts have been a weakness all year, but the team had been making progress even before introducing its latest package.
Even though it likely cost him a couple of positions, Verstappen seemed to be in good spirits about the step the team seems to have made.
“It’s a shame, I think realistically we could have been P3. So it’s a little bit better than P5,” he said.
“But I can tell you also realistically, I think even if we would have been P3, coming off the line is hard for us, so you probably drop back to P5. But that’s what it is at the moment. I mean, it is a big upgrade the team have brought, they made a big effort.”
Verstappen will start with both Mercedes and Ferrari cars ahead of him on the grid.
On what he could expect on Sunday, he said: “I think we have to wait. I mean, this track, very short lap. So you could see naturally a lot of people were close. I think there’s still a few things that we want to understand from the package. That worked well, maybe some bits not so well, and then we’ll just work from there.”
