Red Bull apologise in Max Verstappen health update

Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies has confirmed that Max Verstappen is "okay" following his Austrian Grand Prix qualifying accident - for which he offered an apology.

Verstappen lost control of his RB22 at Turn 9 on the final Q3 runs, skating through the gravel and striking the barrier, going onto qualify in fifth place.

He clambered unaided from the crash, with team-mate Isack Hadjar theorising that the straight mode rear wing not closing in time could have been a factor in the loss of control. 

Addressing the situation, Mekies gave an update on Verstappen's health, before offering an apology. 

"The most important thing after this eventful qualifying session is that Max is okay," said Mekies.

"He delivered an excellent first run in Q3, and his final run was very fast until he lost the car in turn 9. 

"The dynamic of the incident was quite unusual, and we lost aero performance on the rear of the car, and it gave Max no chance to survive. 

"As a team, we take full responsibility for it and apologise to him."

Mekies also touched on Verstappen's near Q2 exit when he only did a single run and placed 10th in the segment, surviving elimination by 0.040s over Pierre Gasly. 

"Not sending Max out for a second run in Q2 was certainly a close call," said Mekies.

"But we knew we had to take some risks after deciding to approach qualifying with only three new sets of Softs to give ourselves more strategic options for the race."