Verstappen watched Spa 24 Hours and not F1 Austrian GP after race retirement

Max Verstappen was taken out of the Austrian Grand Prix by Formula 1 rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli on the opening lap – but rather than joining the team in the garage or on the pitwall, he tuned into the Spa 24 Hours 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.

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 said.

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

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

“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 at the Austrian GP, its first point-less weekend since Bahrain 2022, when Verstappen and his former team-mate Sergio Perez retired.

After Verstappen retired in Austria, 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 team-mate, 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.”