A stuntman at the Austrian GP was filmed crashing to the ground during a performance ahead of Sunday’s main race.
A series of performers were lapping the circuit, metres above the tarmac in a spectacle of entertainment of the onlooking crowd.
He was wearing a red suit and carrying a chequered flag and appeared to look fully in control before the nasty fall occurred.
As the stuntman headed around turn 10 to complete his lap he looked at his left hand, before stalling and spinning in the air and plummeting onto the tarmac.
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Cameras caught the incident before cutting to a baffled-looking Oscar Piastri in the McLaren pit garage.
He skidded for a few metres before coming to a stop, seemingly unharmed from the fall – this all happened about an hour before the start of the main race.
The accident didn’t affect the race, which proceeded at its planned 2:30 pm starting time (GMT).
Turn 10 had proven to be a tricky area of the circuit for drivers too, with a number of drivers receiving penalties on this final corner – for abusing track limits.
Lewis Hamilton was penalised for violating track limits at this corner repeatedly.
McLaren driver Lando Norris was told to report in when Hamilton made this infraction but he joked: “I mean, he’s going off every lap everywhere. I’m not going to talk all the time.”
Hamilton was warned by his Mercedes team about turn 10 but told them: “I can’t keep it on the track, the car won’t turn.”
Five other drivers received the same track limit penalties, including AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda, who did it twice.
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Hamilton noted with bemusement that Sergio Perez seemed to be getting away with doing the same thing.
He said: “Perez off again, has he got a penalty yet? This guy’s going off every single time!”
The race was won by Verstappen, making this his seventh victory of the season – he goes 81 points clear of teammate Sergio Perez at the top of the Driver’s Standings.