Welcome to F1’s ‘jungle’ - How Max Verstappen avoided “airplane shunt” at Spa
Max Verstappen joked F1 racing is like a "jungle" in 2026.
Max Verstappen says he feared having an “airplane shunt” at the Belgian Grand Prix and joked Formula 1 in 2026 feels like a “jungle” due to the energy deployment.
The four-time world champion made a strong start to jump ahead of pole-sitter Andrea Kimi Antonelli on the run to Eau Rouge, before getting swallowed up by the Mercedes driver and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on the long drag down the Kemmel Straight.
Verstappen fell from first to third in a matter of seconds and admitted he was worried when he saw Leclerc’s charging Ferrari looming large in his mirrors.
"Clearly, too much deployment from Turn 1 to Turn 2," Verstappen said of his start. "Then I went through Eau Rouge, looked at my battery status and thought, ‘Well, that's going to be a difficult run to Les Combes.’
"I expected Kimi to come by, and then I looked in my mirror and just saw a red rocket coming. I was like, 'Oh, I'll just hold my line because if I move here, we're going to have an airplane shunt.'
“So, it was pretty incredible, the [speed] differences.”
Verstappen, who has been one of the most vocal critics of this year’s new engines, felt F1 drivers were left with comparable levels of horsepower to Formula 3 during qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps.
Following Sunday’s 44-lap race, the Dutchman once again shared his displeasure at the on-track action being determined by energy deployment levels.
"Welcome to F1 2026. Sometimes it can be a jungle,” Verstappen, who completed the podium in third place behind Antonelli and Leclerc, joked.
Without the intervention of a virtual safety car period which played into Ferrari’s hands by enabling Leclerc to save crucial race time thanks to a cheap pit stop, Verstappen reckons he could have challenged for second place.
But overall, Verstappen was satisfied Red Bull got the most out of its weekend.
"I think overall the weekend for us was quite straightforward. The car was straight away in a decent window, so I think that just helps a lot,” he said.
"To be honest, today we got a little bit unlucky with the VSC, and I could have potentially fought with Charles, but the second stint was just a little bit worse than I hoped for."
Lewis regularly attends Grands Prix for Crash.net around the world. Often reporting on the action from the ground, Lewis tells the stories of the people who matter in the sport.
