Laurent Mekies has confirmed that Max Verstappen had absolutely no chance of avoiding his dramatic Q3 crash at the Austrian Grand Prix on Saturday.
Red Bull found rear aerodynamic damage on the RB22 that caused a sudden and complete loss of rear downforce as Verstappen turned into Turn 9 at the Red Bull Ring.
“The dynamic of the incident was quite unusual. We lost aero performance on the rear of the car and it gave Max no chance to survive,” Mekies said.
The Red Bull team principal went further, offering a direct apology to his driver, saying: “As a team we take full responsibility for it and apologise to him.”
Verstappen himself had already sensed something was wrong earlier in the lap, reporting a significant snap through the complex three corners before the crash occurred.
Race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase was immediately on the radio after the impact, telling Verstappen: “I will check the rear wing, maybe a delay on the rear wing.”
The incident happened just after an SM zone where the active aerodynamics are deployed, with photographs showing the rear wing had closed again by the time the car made contact with the barriers.
Verstappen described the moment in stark terms, saying: “In T9 there was a big loss of rear end grip and the car spun out at high speed. I had an uncontrollable spin and the wheel fully locked.”
The four-time world champion elaborated further, confirming: “We lost aero performance due to some damage on the rear of the car, which caused the issue. The car spun off and the situation was out of my hands unfortunately.”
Despite the dramatic crash, Verstappen confirmed the damage to the RB22 is limited, meaning there should be no significant impact on his race on Sunday.
The Dutchman also acknowledged that, even without the crash, he would not have been fighting for pole position and believes he would have finished third behind both Mercedes drivers.
Red Bull has faced a number of challenges throughout the Austrian Grand Prix weekend, with both drivers reporting a power unit issue in Turn 3 on Friday, specifically a loss of RPM at the apex.
Verstappen confirmed that particular problem has since been resolved, though the team also struggled with car balance on Friday before making improvements ahead of qualifying.
Mekies acknowledged Red Bull is still working to fully understand its latest upgrade package brought to Austria, cautioning that significant upgrades require time to optimise.
“With any significant upgrade, it is never simply a case of plug-and-play. The real challenge is to understand the package, identify its optimum operating window and maximise its potential over the course of the weekend,” Mekies said.
The team principal remained cautiously optimistic about the direction of the package, adding: “We are still learning but today was an encouraging first step. The improved pace we had demonstrated the progress we have made with the package we have brought to Austria.”