F1 Austrian Grand Prix: Red Bull apologise to Max Verstappen for qualifying crash

Max Verstappen

Red Bull apologise to Max Verstappen for 'unusual' issue which caused Austrian Grand Prix crash

Red Bull have diagnosed what caused the crash

Graham Shaw Consultant Editor

Digital sports specialist running global brands for 30 years

Saturday 27 June 2026 22:45 Updated: 09:52

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Red Bull have issued an apology to Max Verstappen for the issue which caused the four-time world champion to crash in qualifying for Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix.

The 28-year-old Dutchman was on his final flying lap in Q3 on Saturday afternoon when he lost control of his car in Turn 9 and span into the gravel and then a barrier.

Verstappen was unhurt in the accident, but it did ruin his chances of challenging for pole at Red Bull's home race. He will start Sunday's race from P5 on the grid.

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On Saturday evening Red Bull provided an update on what had caused Verstappen to crash, and it appears a defect in the rear wing of the RB22 caused the incident.

F1 HEADLINES: Verstappen in 'secret McLaren talks' as Red Bull star set for exit

Mekies issues Verstappen apology

Team principal Laurent Mekies (per Erik van Haren of De Telegraaf) described Verstappen's crash as an 'unusual' incident.

He added: "The most important thing after this eventful qualifying session is that Max is okay.

"He delivered an excellent first run in Q3, and his final run was very fast until he lost the car in turn 9.

"The dynamic of the incident was quite unusual, and we lost aero performance on the rear of the car, and it gave Max no chance to survive.

"As a team, we take full responsibility for it and apologise to him."

Mekies apologised to Verstappen after Saturday's crash.

Verstappen crash is bad timing for Red Bull

Saturday's crash was bad timing for Red Bull, which is making a big push to try and keep Verstappen on the team for 2027 and beyond.

The Dutchman has a contract through to 2028, but there is an exit clause which kicks in should he be outside the top two in the championship standings by the time of the F1 summer break next month.

Verstappen is currently seventh in the standings, and has been linked with a move to McLaren in the last 48 hours.

Red Bull had brought a huge raft of car upgrades to the Red Bull Ring this weekend in a bid to improve the performance of the RB22.

Verstappen's future remains up in the air.

In recent days Verstappen's manager Raymond Vermuelen has stressed that his client's ideal scenario would be to stay with Red Bull. But Vermeulen has also made it clear that he must have a car that enables him to challenge for wins.