Verstappen confused by car handling ahead of Q3 crash

Max Verstappen says he had a hint something wasn’t right with the handling of his car earlier in his final Austrian Grand Prix qualifying lap before he crashed at Turn 9.

Red Bull had just managed to get through Q2 in 10th place with Verstappen as it saved an extra set of soft tires for the final part of qualifying, and the Dutchman duly responded with a competitive first lap time that left him provisionally third on the grid. Verstappen was improving on his final lap when he lost control at Turn 9, hitting the barrier on the outside of the track.

“The first two sectors were quite OK, but I knew that in the last sector Mercedes was very fast, and probably hard to replicate what they were doing there,” Verstappen said. “I knew for myself there was margin still. But I think even if we would have been P3, that would have been a very nice result for us.

“But on that final lap, I can't really explain why it felt like that. Because already in Turn 6, it was the same thing on this long combined entry, I had a big snap, just a big moment. Which was a bit odd, because that corner it normally always understeers.

“And then I went into Turn 9 and the same happened. And as soon as I turned the wheel, it just completely snapped. It was not even controllable anymore.”

Despite running limited laps earlier on to save tire, Verstappen says there was a clear difference between how the car responded on his final run compared to the rest of the session.

“I really need to have a look, because everything was feeling fine up until that lap," he said. "So in that lap, already in Turn 6 I had a very weird snap on entry, because that's basically the second-highest speed. And then when I went into Turn 9, as soon as I turned the wheel, it was gone.

“So it felt like we were lacking some downforce or, like I had oversteer. I didn't even change anything on the car. You know there is margin in places, so you try to push a little bit more, but at the same time, also not a stupid amount more. But as soon as I turned the wheel, it just completely went away.”

After Verstappen’s crash, the Mercedes drivers passed while only single waved yellow flags were showing, with it taking 15 seconds for double waved yellows – that would force drivers to abort – to appear, about which the Dutchman said, “I only heard about that now; that's quite crazy.”