No mistake: Verstappen blocked by rear wing problem

From SPIELBERG (AUSTRIA)
The record in the second sector stirred the audience in the stands, causing them to dream of an unexpected front row. But Max Verstappen still had to deal with the third sector, the true Achilles heel of the revamped RB22 in the inner corners of the Red Bull Ring. The first feeling was that the Dutchman was back in Super Max mode, sensing the huge opportunity of an important result. He believed it and tried to push himself over the limit, but it ended disastrously against the barriers on the outside of Turn 9. A problem with the rear wing Isack Hadjar commented to the media about his teammate’s accident: “Max had a problem with the rear wing that was not closing properly. I think this is related to the updates.” Analyzing the technical issue on Verstappen’s RB22 in more detail, Laurent Mekies confirmed this: “The most important thing is that Max is OK. He had an excellent first attempt in the third quarter and his last lap was very fast until he lost control of the car at Turn 9. The dynamics of the crash were quite unusual and we lost the aerodynamic performance at the rear. This did not give Max the chance to take the corner. As a team, we take full responsibility for what happened and offer.” We apologize to him.” The stakes in Q2 Qualifying were quite eventful for Red Bull. In the second quarter, Verstappen managed to break into the Top 10 by just 40-thousandths of Gasly, using only a set of Soft tires to have more cards to play with on Sunday’s strategy. “It was definitely a risky decision not to send Max for a second trial in Q2,” said Mekies, “but after deciding to face only three sets of new Soft tires in qualifying we knew we had to take some risks. “Our idea heading into the weekend was to have more strategic options for the race,” he said. A lot of updates, which are not easy to manage. Red Bull’s entire Austrian weekend was characterized by non-stop work on fine-tuning and assembling the major update package brought to the home race. Milton Keynes mechanics have carried out a lot of extensive work in the pits since Thursday, working intensively on both Verstappen and Hadjar’s cars until just minutes before each session. “Whenever a significant update. If you offer it, it’s never just about plug and play. The challenge is to understand the package, determine the optimal operating window and maximize its potential over the weekend. We are still learning, but the qualifying result was an encouraging first step. The increased speed demonstrated the progress made in the package we brought to Austria,” concluded Mekies.

Automobile Magazine – Formula1 English, News

2026-06-28 16:00:00

Automobile Magazine, 2026-06-28 16:15:00, automobilemagazine.com.tr

Source link