Max Verstappen says Australian GP qualifying crash something he never experienced before

As the Dutchman approached Turn 1 and as soon as he hit the brakes, the rear of the RB22 snapped violently, and it went spinning into the gravel trap.

From there, Verstappen could not return to the track, which ended his session prematurely. He walked away safely from the incident, although he was seen looking at his hands, which might have taken a hit by the steering wheel upon impact.

He later revealed that he did X-Rays, he said: "I just had to get some X-rays done to see if my hands were OK, but nothing was broken.

It was clearly no driver error, and the brutal reaction from the car meant even Verstappen, with his massive talent and car control, couldn't hold the car.

As such, Verstappen will have to start the race from the back of the grid, which might end up being an entertaining spectacle as he makes his way up the grid, especially as his car has the pace proven by Isack Hadjar's third place in qualifying.

Reflecting on his qualifying crash, Verstappen said: "I didn’t speak to the team yet or didn’t look into any data, but to lose the car like that on the braking—I've never experienced that in my life."

Going into further details, the four-time Formula 1 Champion added: "I hit the [brake] pedal, and suddenly the whole rear axle just completely locked up, so definitely a bit weird.

"I think it already went wrong before the downshift because I hit the pedal, and as soon as I hit the pedal, because you quite quickly downshift, it already immediately locked on the peak of the brake pressure, basically. 

"So something very weird, that’s for sure," Verstappen concluded.

This incident on Saturday in Melbourne will not help in changing Verstappen's stance on the new-for-2026 F1 cars and their hybrid power units. (Source: Sky Sports F1)