Verstappen’s Australian GP Prep Hit by Car Damage After Practice Incident

Four-time Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen encountered a setback ahead of the Australian Grand Prix after sustaining damage to his Red Bull car during the second practice session at Melbourne’s Albert Park. The incident has given the Red Bull team additional perform to complete before qualifying and the race.

Incident Details

Late in FP2, Verstappen ran wide at Turn 10, entering the gravel trap. While avoiding a major crash, the car’s floor sustained significant damage as it bounced through the gravel, shedding carbon fiber pieces. Verstappen finished the session in sixth place, with a time of 1:20.366, behind pace-setter Oscar Piastri of McLaren (1:19.729) and Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli (1:20.015).^GPFans

Red Bull’s Assessment

Red Bull’s chief engineer, Paul Monaghan, acknowledged the damage, stating, “I’ll say there’s enough to keep us busy.” He added that the damage is “recoverable” and “nothing that drastic,” but requires “a bit of a thump, so we’ll tidy it up and go again.”^Crash.net

Positive Development for Novel Power Unit

Despite the incident, Monaghan expressed satisfaction with the overall performance of the RB22, particularly considering Red Bull’s first season developing its own power unit. He described the initial performance as “fantastic,” noting that both cars were “competitive straight off” during the first practice session. ^Crash.net

Hadjar’s Integration

Monaghan also commented on the performance of Verstappen’s new teammate, Isack Hadjar, stating that he is “getting his head around it” and “knows what he seems to want.” ^Crash.net

Looking Ahead

Red Bull’s primary focus is now on optimizing the car’s performance for both qualifying and the race, aiming to consistently extract the best possible lap times. ^Crash.net