Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen crashed out in Q1 in the Australian Grand Prix Qualifying on Saturday, March 7 to start his season on a shaky note. The four-time F1 world champion forced the red flags to come up early as his dramatic crash left down at the last position for the Sunday’s race.

The Dutchman joined the action with eight minutes still left on the clock in Q1. Before he could register a banker lap, his car span off the track and slammed into the barriers at Turn 1. Without a timed lap to his name, Verstappen was left at P20 for the final race.

Max Verstappen is OUT of Qualifying, with no time set! 😳

This is the moment where the Red Bull driver spins into the wall at Turn 1 👇#F1 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/M2XKoapEMl

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 7, 2026

“The car just locked on the rear axles,” Verstappen said over the radio following his crash. The then walked away from his stricken car with disappointment. Red flags came up and the session was stopped for 15 minutes.

Russell grabs pole for Australian GP

With Verstappen out of the way, his competitors rode away in the season opener which sees multiple new rules being introduced.

George Russell stormed to the pole position for Sunday’s race as the Mercedes star led throughout each segment of Qualifying before posting a stunning final lap of 1m 18.518s to clinch top spot. He beat his Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli who will start from P2.

Antonelli who had dramatically crashed out of Saturday’s final practice session with a violent double impact bounced back strongly in the Qualifying to help Mercedes lock out the front row.

Isack Hadjar had a good outing on his Red Bull debut as he claimed the third place ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and home hero McLaren’s Oscar Piastri. Lando Norris of McLaren who ended Verstappen’s four-year reign as world champion last season, finished at P6. Lewis Hamilton ended seventh.