Accident on curve 1
The new era of F1 begins with an accident for the master of the previous generation of cars, Max Verstappen. The vice-world champion has indeed slammed heavily into the barriers in turn-1 when there were around seven and a half minutes left until the conclusion of Q1 at the start of his first timed lap. Initially it was thought that it was an unexpected mistake by the four-time Red Bull world champion, but the first replays and Verstappen’s own radio team immediately denied this hypothesis.
The reason for the #3’s exit from the track was in fact due to a sudden locking of the rear axle of the RB22 which sent the Dutchman into a spin at high speed. Verstappen’s accident caused a red flag which was useful for the Mercedes mechanics to finish the repairs on Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s car, after the Italian had been involved in a bad accident in FP3.
Verstappen got out of the car independently, but showed pain in his hands, particularly the right one. A replay showed how he suffered a fairly significant backlash upon impact with the barriers.
