Four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen had a big moment during the second practice session at the 2026 Australian GP as the Dutchman veered off into the gravel, doing just enough to miss the barriers. The Milton Keynes-based team is now in a battle against time to repair the car in time for FP3, followed by the qualifying session.
Verstappen and the other 21 drivers took to the Albert Park street circuit for the practice session on Friday. The FP2 session is the most representative practice session, replicating the track & weather conditions for the qualifying and the main race. Hence, it is the session where drivers do their qualifying simulations as well as race runs.
With the new era of cars, Max Verstappen was pushing the RB22 to the limits around the circuit during GP2 when he went off Turn 10 and into the gravel. As the corner has a fast exit, the Dutchman went springing through the gravel trap.
Although Verstappen was able to keep the car away from the barriers and didn’t get beached in the gravel trap, the off-track excursion caused significant damage to the RB22, with bits of carbon fibre flying everywhere.
Detailing the extent of the damage, Paul Monaghan, the Chief Engineer at Red Bull Racing, said,
“I’ll say there’s enough to keep us busy. It’s recoverable. It’s nothing that drastic, but it’s a bit of a thump, so we’ll tidy it up and go again.”
FIA relaxed the curfew for the first two periods, given the situation in the Middle East and the delay in the team’s equipment flying from Bahrain after the preseason test. With extensive damage to Max Verstappen’s RB22 floor, Red Bull would refrain from breaking the curfew.
In case the car isn’t fixed in time for the FP3 session, or any unusual issues pop up after the car is fixed, the Dutchman will lose crucial track time. Given that the cars are new, these hiccups can happen. Missing out on the track time will then also affect Max Verstappen’s qualifying.
Max Verstappen details struggles with the grip during the Australian GP Friday practice
Max Verstappen completed 27 laps in the first practice session at Albert Park and was the third-quickest driver with a lap time half a second slower than Charles Leclerc’s fastest time. In FP2, the Dutchman struggled with the grip of the RB22 and had the massive gravel trap moment, finishing the session with the 6th fastest time.
Reflecting on the first day of practice running, the four-time F1 champion said,
“In FP1, we did get in a good number of laps and in FP2, we found that we ran into a few issues. We are working on getting the setup right with the car and were struggling a bit with grip, and also went into the gravel.”
“We didn’t have a full day of clean running, but, pace-wise, we are where I expected us to be. There is still a lot of work to do, and we will analyse what worked and what we can improve on overnight, and that is the reality at the moment,” Max Verstappen added
At the shakedown in Barcelona, Red Bull missed a couple of run plans that were delayed by a couple of days following Isack Hadjar’s crash, and the absence of spare parts, which were later flown from Milton-Keynes to Catalunya.
Edited by Pranay Bhagi
