Max Verstappen crashed on his first run during qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix. Paolo Filisetti, RacingNews365 technical expert, explains what happened.
In the first qualifying session of F1’s new era, Max Verstappen crashed at Turn 1 in Australia due to a rear lock-up in his Red Bull, leaving team principal Laurent Mekies describing it as “very brutal”. The team will investigate the incident, which was a result of a glitch in the energy recovery system during downshifting, causing the engine brake to intervene and lock the rear axle. This highlights the challenges of the current power unit technology in Formula 1, with Verstappen falling victim to its early development stages. Looking ahead to the race, Ferrari’s Fred Vasseur predicts a chaotic event that will heavily rely on energy management, both strategically and in terms of reliability.
