Red Bull have said there is enough damage on Max Verstappen’s car to keep the team busy after he ran off the track during practice for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.
The four-time world champion lost control at Turn 10 during the second practice session at Albert Park and went into the gravel. He managed to avoid a bigger crash, but the car was still damaged.
As Verstappen drove through the gravel, parts of the car’s floor were torn off, with pieces of carbon fibre flying behind the car.
Red Bull’s chief engineer Paul Monaghan said the damage is not too serious but will require some work.
He said there is enough damage to keep the team busy, but it is recoverable and not a major problem. He added that the team will repair the car and continue.
Despite the incident, Verstappen finished sixth fastest in the session, 0.637 seconds behind the quickest driver, Oscar Piastri of McLaren.
Piastri set the fastest lap with a time of 1:19.729, finishing 0.214 seconds ahead of Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli. Verstappen’s best lap was 1:20.366.
Monaghan said he was generally pleased with the performance of the new Red Bull car, especially as the team is using its own power unit for the first time.
He said it was a strong start with a brand-new engine, a new car and new regulations. Both drivers were able to leave the pit lane at the start of the first practice session and were competitive straight away.
Speaking about Verstappen’s new teammate Isack Hadjar, Monaghan said the young driver is still learning but understands what he wants from the car.
He added that the car is quite well balanced, although a few small issues in the second session caused some difficulties.
Red Bull’s main goal now is to understand how to get the best performance from the car in both qualifying and race conditions and to do it consistently.
