Max Verstappen is therefore the big favorite going into the rest of the Formula 1 weekend in Spielberg. No one has won the Austrian GP as often as the Red Bull driver, he was the fastest in training and finally secured first place on the grid for the short race on Saturday with the best times in all three segments in the sprint qualifying.
But F1 Friday at the Red Bull Ring initially seemed to be going in a completely different direction for the Dutchman. In the only free practice session of the race weekend, Verstappen’s RB20 suddenly rolled to a stop at a slow speed and came to a stop next to the pit wall on the start-finish straight. The three-time Formula 1 champion immediately suspected an engine problem. That would be a heavy blow for the world championship leader, who has already used up the permitted quota of almost all PU components.
All clear after training shock: Oil pressure sensor broken, not engine
Would be, because as it turned out shortly afterwards, the problem was not as serious as originally thought. It was not the engine, but only a sensor that was defective, as Red Bull announced. Red Bull Motorsport Advisor Dr. Helmut Marko explained in an interview with Servus TV how it came about: “In the first practice session, Max drove straight ahead in turn 1 and unfortunately almost hit a hump (sausage kerb, ed. ReD) with all four wheels. This disabled a sensor that shows the oil pressure.”
“Theoretically there was no oil pressure. We had to turn it off to save the engine,” said Marko. “We were lucky that it happened exactly at that point. It was able to roll back, was pushed out (into the pit lane), we were able to reactivate the sensor and we carried on,” said a delighted Marko.
Max Verstappen unbeatable in sprint qualifying: Pole and favorite role
Verstappen’s problem resulted in a red flag. Shortly after the session resumed, he was able to return to the track. “We only lost one or two laps,” said Marko. Verstappen was spared an engine penalty at the Formula 1 weekend in Spielberg.
In the sprint qualifying a few hours later, no one could match Verstappen’s performance. He was particularly pleased that the setup seemed to work right from the start this weekend: “It was a good day. The car felt good to drive, it was well balanced from the start and we only had to make small adjustments for the sprint qualifying.”
“This time the car was good from the start. It’s no secret that in the last few races we often needed three practice sessions and qualifying to get the balance right,” said Marko. This time the balance is right, so Verstappen is looking forward to the third sprint race of the 2024 Formula 1 season with confidence: “I think we’ll find out tomorrow. [wer der schärfste Konkurrent ist]I didn’t think too much about it.”