"Crazy" - Max Verstappen expresses yellow flag surprise after heavy Austria F1 crash

Max Verstappen says it was “quite crazy” that his crash at the end of Q3 in Austria resulted only in a single yellow flag and not a double.

A double would have automatically cancelled the laps of all drivers, with the signal indicating drivers must slow and be prepared to stop. 

After Kimi Antonelli aborted his final flying lap, Verstappen believed the double yellows were being shown. However, it was only a single, and the Italian’s team mate George Russell carried on. Having demonstrated that he had lifted, to the satisfaction of the FIA, he was able to keep pole position.

Verstappen, who only found out what had transpired when he was in the TV pen after the session, was surprised.

“I only heard about that now. That's quite crazy, yeah," said the four-time champion.

The accident came after a couple of tricky moments for the Dutchman earlier in the lap, notably at Turn 6, but he was still caught out.

“When I went into Turn 9, as soon as I turned the wheel, it was gone,” he said. “So yeah, it felt like a bit of a lack of some downforce. I mean, you can have oversteer. I didn't even change anything on the car, so you just know there is margin in place, and so you try to push a little bit more, but at the same time also not a stupid amount more. But as soon as I turned the wheel, it just really went away.”

His team-mate Isack Hadjar had suggested it might be related to the rear wing not closing properly at the end of a straight line mode zone, but Verstappen downplayed that possibility.

“We are aware of that," he said. "I think more teams are aware of that, and you already take measures for that. So, I did that. I think normally you can catch an overseer, but this was not controllable at all, unfortunately.”

The Dutchman had enjoyed a good session up to that point, successfully gambling that his time would get him out of Q2 while he saved a set of tyres.

“I knew it was going to be tight because I knew what the lap time was going to be, or our guess for the cut-off,” he said.

“But at the same time, it's the risk that I was willing to take with the team, because I only had three sets and I wanted two new in Q3 to stay, of course, in the loop with the other drivers. But yeah, it was tight. 

“But then my first lap in Q3 felt really good, and probably the best lap of the weekend. Yeah, I think it was not enough for pole, the last lap, partly probably also because already what happened in Turn 6. 

“And then, of course, in the end that was it. But even then, I think P3 would have been a very nice result for us. I think Mercedes was a little bit too strong in the high speed corners compared to us.”