Max Verstappen speaks his mind after Australian GP qualifying crash | F1 | Sport

It was clear from replays that the entire rear axle of the car completely locked up from the moment he touched his brake pedal, indicating a setup problem with perhaps too much brake bias on the back of his Red Bull. And a rather baffled Verstappen hinted at that as he tried but largely failed to explain in the media pen what had gone wrong.

“I didn’t speak to the team yet and I didn’t look at any data but, to lose the car like that on the braking, I’ve never experienced that in my life,” the bemused Dutchman told Sky Sports. “I hit the pedal and suddenly the whole rear axle just completely locked up, so definitely a bit weird.

“I think it already went wrong before the downshift, because I hit the pedal and, a soon as I did – because it quite quickly downshifts, right? – but it immediately locked on the brake pressure. Something very weird, that’s for sure. It’s really weird.”

Recovering to the top 10 to score as many points as he can is now the best that Verstappen can hope for from Sunday’s race. He added: “That’s the target, but there are so many unknowns of course, at the moment, that we still need to get on top of. We’ll see what we can do.”

Best of the rest was Isack Hadjar with a superb first qualifying performance and result as a Red Bull Racing driver, easing the pain caused by Verstappen’s crash somewhat. The Frenchman gave a somewhat reserve response, though, as he said: “It’s the first quali of the year, let’s see how it goes. We need to stay cool, it’s just one quali session.”

Asked what he thinks he can achieve in the race from his lofty starting position, Hadjar added: “We know it’s decent on the long run, our race car. I’m actually quite confident – not enough to beat any Mercedes, that’s for sure, but to at least keep our position. That would be good!”