Red Bull issue Max Verstappen apology as they give health update for Austrian GP after crash

Red Bull Racing have apologised to Max Verstappen after he suffered a crash in qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix.

Vertsappen lost control at Turn 9 late in Q3 on Saturday, when his RB22 ran through gravel and hit a safety barrier. The 28-year-old was able to climb out of his car as he qualified in fifth place for the main race event on Sunday afternoon.

The FIA deployed a single yellow flag for the incident, which the Mercedes pair of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell passed on the way to finishing their respective laps.

There was then plenty of confusion as Antonelli aborted his lap upon seeing the yellow flag, while Russell only lifted and was able to qualify on pole position by over two tenths ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

Speaking after the accident, Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies admitted his team would take 'full responsibility' for the crash, while he also confirmed Verstappen would be okay to race again this weekend.

"The most important thing after this eventful qualifying session is that Max is okay," said Mekies.

"He delivered an excellent first run in Q3, and his final run was very fast until he lost the car in turn 9.

"The dynamic of the incident was quite unusual, and we lost aero performance on the rear of the car, and it gave Max no chance to survive.

"As a team, we take full responsibility for it and apologise to him."

Red Bull will hope to make up some ground at the Austrian GP, with just four races left before the Formula 1 season stops for a summer beak.

Verstappen reportedly has an option in his current Red Bull Racing contract that would allow him to mutually terminate the deal if he is not in the top two when the season pauses next month. He currently sits seventh in the season rankings after he finished fourth in the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix last time out.

The weekend nearly got off to an awful start when Verstappen placed 10th in Q2 and survived elimination, which almost saw him eliminated over Pierre Gasly by just 0.040 seconds.

Asked why Verstappen only did a single run during Q2, Mekies added: "Not sending Max out for a second run in Q2 was certainly a close call.

"But we knew we had to take some risks after deciding to approach qualifying with only three new sets of Softs to give ourselves more strategic options for the race."

When does the Austrian Grand Prix start?

Verstappen looked like he was on course for a top-two finish in qualification, but will instead start the Austrian Grand Prix in fifth on Sunday afternoon.

Russell will start from pole, ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc - who was on provisional pole before Verstappen's crash - and his Scuderia team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

The Austrian GP gets underway at 2 pm BST from the Red Bull Ring circuit in Spielberg.