Verstappen wiped out on the opening lap of Red Bull's home Grand Prix
The Dutchman did not even complete a lap in front of the partisan crowd
Red Bull Racing’s first home race of the season was a disaster after Max Verstappen was wiped out on the opening lap.
At the circuit owned by the energy drinks giant, it was a weekend to forget for the Tilbrook team. With Tsunoda’s qualifying woes continuing since his move to the team, seeing him eliminated in Q1, Verstappen scuppered both of his Q3 laps and had to start seventh.
Mired in the pack off the start, Verstappen leaped Liam Lawson’s Racing Bulls off the start, but heading up the hill to the hairpin, was the victim when Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes speared him off, eliminating both on the spot.
“The incident with Kimi on the first lap was unfortunate but no one does that on purpose and I knew it was an accident,” said a pragmatic Verstappen afterwards. “He apologised to me when we were walking back from the track and he came to my room afterwards to apologise again, we get on very well, he is an amazing guy and a super talented driver.
“Unfortunately for us this weekend there weren’t a lot of positives and although we were unlucky with the yellow flag in qualifying yesterday and the incident today, we lacked pace throughout.
“We have had some amazing performances at this track in the past and I am the most disappointed about this result in front of a home crowd, but we will continue to try and do our best and my mentality and focus will not change.”
The team head to their second home race of the season next weekend at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix.