Red Bull mechanics seen doing something ‘unusual’ on Austrian GP grid after Max Verstappen crash

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Red Bull took a step forward at the Austrian Grand Prix as Max Verstappen finished P2, but the weekend was not all plain sailing as the Dutchman crashed in qualifying.

The Milton Keynes outfit brought upgrades to the Austrian Grand Prix to improve the RB22. It was Red Bull’s ‘last-ditch attempt’ to convince Verstappen to stay for 2027 amid links to McLaren over the weekend.

Initially, they did not seem to work, as Verstappen and Isack Hadjar raged over the RB22’s drivability in practice. Then, in the final seconds of Q3, the four-time champion lost his car at the penultimate corner and slammed into the barriers.

Red Bull mechanics seen double-checking Max Verstappen’s rear wing before the Austrian Grand Prix

Karun Chandhok felt that Verstappen tried ‘too much’ on his final run in qualifying, resulting in his crash. However, Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies took full responsibility for the crash.

He said that Verstappen had lost aero performance on the rear of the car, suggesting that there was an issue with the rear wing. Red Bull were clearly concerned about the problem, as mechanics were seen checking it on the grid ahead of the race.

They even removed the shroud on the rear wing before putting it back on again, double-checking that everything was in order. Journalist Jon Noble says this is an ‘unusual’ thing to do before a race, via The Race F1 Podcast.

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He said: “Just a note on that mechanism of the rear wing, I did notice on the grid before the start of the race that the Red Bull mechanics were taking a very close look at the rear wing and had removed the shroud to look at the mechanism underneath.

“Which is unusual for like a pre-race check. So it suggests to me this was an area… they just wanted to double-check everything was in order, and it was all working.

“Well, they put it back on again, but they were definitely working on it before the start of the race.”

Fortunately for Red Bull, the issue did not pop up again as Verstappen finished second between the two Mercedes at the Red Bull Ring, with Hadjar coming home in sixth.

The Dutchman enjoyed a great battle with Lewis Hamilton and finished just 1.6 seconds behind winner George Russell.

Verstappen was potentially denied victory, as a marshal made a mistake by deploying a single yellow flag rather than a double. Kimi Antonelli backed off towards the final corner, but Russell did not and claimed pole position, which he was allowed to keep.