Max Verstappen reveals Red Bull 'reality' after severe car damage

Max Verstappen has outlined what he believes to be Red Bull's reality after damaging his car in Australian Grand Prix practice.

Towards the end of the second hour-long session at Melbourne's Albert Park, Verstappen suffered from a snap of oversteer at Turn 10 and skated through the gravel, doing well to avoid slamming into a barrier, as Oliver Bearman did in 2025.

As he bounced over the gravel, parts of the floor broke away, leaving severe damage to the RB22 he later guided into sixth on the timesheet with 13 laps on the board.

Verstappen had finished third in FP1 to start the season, but despite the drama of the damage, the Dutchman believes that the team is "where I expected us to be".

"In FP1, we did get in a good number of laps and in FP2, we found that we ran into a few issues," Verstappen explained.

"We are working on getting the setup right with the car and were struggling a bit with grip, and also went into the gravel. 

"We didn't have a full day of clean running, but, pace-wise, we are where I expected us to be. 

"There is still a lot of work to do, and we will analyse what worked and what we can improve on overnight, and that is the reality at the moment."