Home

F1

Photos Paint the HORRIFIC Aftermath of Max Verstappen’s Opening Lap Crash

Published 08/04/2021, 7:09 AM EDT

Follow Us

via Getty

After securing three consecutive victories from the French to the Austrian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen has been on a back foot. The Dutch could only score two points from the last couple of race weekends because of his misfortune.

It’s worth mentioning that out of 11 Grand Prix so far this season, Max Verstappen has only failed to display a fine performance in three race weekends due to his bad luck. The 23-year-old is either engaged in a collision or suffers a tire blowout. And a similar event happened at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

After having a perfect start, Max Verstappen jumped from P3 to P2 before the first corner. Valtteri Bottas, who had a poor start, dropped from P2 to P5. And before turn 1, the Finn made a poor braking judgment and collided with McLaren’s Lando Norris who then contacted Verstappen.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Watch Story: Biggest Pitlane Mishaps Featuring Hamilton, Raikkonen & Verstappen

The Dutch had major damage to his right barge board and was forced to pit. Although Verstappen’s car looked a little damaged when viewed on the television. It was only after the race when the official Instagram account of F1 uploaded a close-up image of the car which showed the Dutch car was missing almost all the aero components on the right side of his car.

Christian Horner praises the Red Bull crew for repairing Verstappen’s car

After the massive first-lap crash, the race was red-flagged. This helped Red Bull mechanics to work on the damage to Verstappen’s car. The Milton Keynes-based team mechanics fixed several damages, but Verstappen struggled with pace throughout the race, finishing the race P10. However, the Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner, was full of praise for his mechanics after the race.

“I have to say the mechanics worked wonders getting that car working again, just getting some of the pipes straightened on it was an incredible response. But hugely frustrating obviously,” said Christian Horner.

Trending

Get instantly notified of the hottest F1 stories via Google! Click on Follow Us and Tap the Blue Star.

Follow Us

via Reuters

“It’s brutal for us, but I think the team did well to get that car back out there, they nailed the fastest stop, Max fought for that one point, and that could prove vital at the end of the year.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Whereas Max Verstappen, after damaging his right bargeboard claims that his car was missing much-needed downforce.

“The mechanics did what they could to get me back into the race, but the car was badly damaged after the incident and very difficult to drive. The loss of downforce meant there was a lot of oversteer and understeer,” said Max Verstappen.

Marko Reveals More Worrying F1 News for Red Bull Following the Hungarian GP Crash

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Max Verstappen currently sits P2 in the driver’s championship, eight points behind his arch-rival Lewis Hamilton.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Pingaksh Sharma

306Articles

One take at a time

Pingaksh Sharma is an F1 author at EssentiallySports. He has been following this sport since India hosted the Grand Prix in 2012 and has been an ardent supporter of the eventual race winner, Sebastian Vettel. He is also a fan of Max Verstappen and Red Bull and hopes the former breaks the Lewis Hamilton dominance.
Show More>