Max Verstappen admits watching Spa 24 after crashing out of F1 Austrian GP

Max Verstappen was taken out of the Austrian Grand Prix by rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli on Lap 1, but rather than joining the team in the garage or on the pit wall, he tuned into the 24 Hours of Spa instead. 

The four-time world champion’s race was over almost before it began, after he was wiped out by the Mercedes driver at Turn 3 on the first lap of the race. Verstappen’s team-mate, Yuki Tsunoda, had an equally tough day at the Red Bull Ring, finishing last on the road. 

The team didn’t receive any help from Verstappen, however, who opted not to watch the race at all.

“To be honest, I didn’t really follow the race too much, I was watching the Spa 24,” he told reporters.

His Verstappen.com Racing Aston Martin, driven by Chris Lulham, Harry King and Thierry Vermeulen, stormed to victory in the Gold Class at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.  

Verstappen, who skipped the ‘F1’ movie premiere last week to test the GT3 machinery at Spa, said the race was nerve-wracking because his team were on their final track limit warning shortly before the checkered flag. 

#33 Verstappen.com Racing / 2 Seas Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO: Harry King, Chris Lulham, Thierry Vermeulen

Photo by: Eric Le Galliot

“For us to be P9 overall – and of course we won our class – in our first attempt doing it, I think that’s something that we can be very proud of,” he said.  

Unfortunately, it wasn’t such a good day for the team that employs Verstappen, Red Bull Racing. The F1 squad scored zero points over the F1 weekend for the first time since Bahrain 2022, when both drivers retired. 

After Verstappen retired, Tsunoda was stuck at the back of the pack for most of the race, and an ill-judged scrap with the Alpine of Franco Colapinto sent his race from bad to worse. The Japanese racer was handed a 10-second time penalty and two penalty points for his crash with Colapinto, resulting in a last place finish.  

“The collision with Franco is my bad, obviously,” Tsunoda admitted to reporters after the race. “I think it was quite a poor move. I must send apologies to the team.  

“[But] at the same time, the pace itself was pretty poor as well. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong.”  
He noted that the car is well-suited to his teammate, who has won four world titles with the Milton Keynes-based outfit, while he’s still struggling to adapt. 

“It’s really hard to find in terms of driving style difference with Max,” Tsunoda added. “Maybe I’ll have to find from a different kind of view, but for now, it’s hard to find the reasons.”