Max Verstappen’s 2026 season got off to a rough start as he crashed out in Q1 of the Australian Grand Prix without putting together a lap.
Verstappen brought out the first surprise of the year when he lost control at Turn 1 on his opening flying lap. The rear axle locked up under braking, sending him into the barriers and ending his session before it really began.
It was the first time in a decade that Verstappen had exited Q1 due to a qualifying crash, with his previous incident occurring at the 2016 Monaco Grand Prix. Since then, any early exits had been down to either speed or reliability problems.
He is now expected to line up 20th on the grid, although Red Bull could still decide to move him to a pit-lane start instead.
Priestley believes Red Bull’s energy system caught Verstappen off guard
Verstappen’s crash was the main talking point of a session that saw George Russell take pole position for Mercedes. While there were suggestions Verstappen may have had a gearbox issue, Marc Priestley said it looked like an error on the Dutchman’s part.
Priestley believes Verstappen was caught out by the energy harvesting demands of the 2026 regulations. Red Bull are running their first-ever in-house engine this season after Honda left to join Aston Martin.
“Max Verstappen locked the rear wheels under braking going into Turn 1,” Priestley said on BBC Radio 5 Live.
“I think what happens is he gets caught out by the massive energy harvesting, the braking that is being done on the rear axle alone by the electric motors. A lot of people have been caught out by this in the new cars.”
Max Verstappen Expected to Benefit from F1’s New Energy Management Rules in 2026
The 2026 F1 season brought significant changes to the sport, with new engine regulations putting a much greater focus on energy management. The latest power units now balance electrical and combustion output at nearly a 50/50 split, up from the previous 20/80 ratio that had been in place since 2014.
The removal of the costly MGU-H has shifted more responsibility to the MGU-K for energy harvesting, and early signs suggested Verstappen was adapting well during pre-season testing in Bahrain. He quickly took to a high-revving approach through corners, using lower gears to maximise energy recovery – a technique that even caught the attention of Toto Wolff, who estimated it gave Red Bull around a second per lap.
Many observers expected Verstappen to excel under these new rules. Former Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko was among those who predicted he would benefit significantly from the increased emphasis on energy management. So seeing him make an error so early in the season came as something of a surprise.
Read more:
