Rain wreaked havoc on the circuit during the first qualifying session. And the weather doesn’t care if you’re the reigning world champion. Max Verstappen learned that the hard way when his car flipped over on him, sending him into the gravel trap. He called the incident “super unlucky” because it was him who was hit by the rain instead of the cars in front of him during a push lap.
“I knew in Q1 we needed that slippery lap because you never know if it’s going to rain more and the session is over,” Verstappen said. “Naturally I tried to keep the speed up. I slowed down, knowing it was raining on my visor, but it still slammed on me, and I had to stop it from hitting the wall when it went off the line.
Despite all the damage on the floor, Verstappen was never a threat for pole during qualifying. He will start in P4 alongside Lando Norris.
“But then I had to take the gravel, which ripped the floor off, and I missed quite a few parts on the car, although I think the team did a great job to try to salvage some bits and optimise the balance between the front and rear. But yeah, it ruined our qualifying. I was happy to be in Q3 despite the damage we had. And P4 is probably a nice surprise.”
