Max Verstappen had an embarrassing end to the British Grand Prix on Sunday as he crashed out of the much-anticipated Formula One race with a rear wing issue to his RB22. The crash was sudden and brought an unexpected end to an otherwise solid performance from the 28-year-old.
Based on the audio from the cockpit and the videos that surfaced on social media, it seemed Max Verstappen’s car suffered a wing failure which resulted in the car spinning out of the tarmac and landing on the gravel.
Here’s the video of the incident shared by Formula 1.
Ferrari’s Charles Lecrec finished in the pole position, followed by Mercedes’ George Russel, and Leclerc’s fellow Ferrari teammate, Lewis Hamilton. Verstappen was almost certainly on the way to finish on the podium today, but for the issues with his RB22, something that has recurred throughout 2026, affecting Verstappen’s finishes.
No wonder the 22-year-old Dutchman was frustrated both during and after the race. The radio recorded him saying, “I’m stuck, mate. F*** this car, f***** unbelievable. F*** this.”
As the sideline reporter spoke to Verstappen after the race, he expressed similar frustration. “Why didn’t you come out from the pit lane?” he was asked by the sideline reporter. “Don’t ask me that question,” Verstappen said. “If it were up to me, I would have chosen another option.”
He Faced Similar Problems In Qualifying
Sunday’s accident was perhaps the moment Max Verstappen’s frustration with the RB22 peaked. In qualifying on Saturday, the Dutchman finished seventh to enter Sunday’s race. He was visibly frustrated with the RB22, complaining that it’s “just not going forward.”
“It’s just not pulling the same as it was. On a track like this, where that is key, you want as much power as you can, so it’s extra painful,” Verstappen after Saturday’s qualifying.
“I’ve tried a lot of things in qualifying, but it was just always the same,” he continued. “So, there is a clear problem with the engine that we can’t find and that worries me for tomorrow because there is actually no point to race like this.”
Also read: F1: Ferrari, McLaren throw the gauntlet down to Mercedes
A Series Of Disasters For Max Verstappen
Sunday’s exit for Verstappen will raise many questions for the Red Bull Racing team again. It was the latest RB22 issue that cost Verstappen badly, and perhaps most glaring of the RB22 failures the Dutch racer has suffered in the 2026 season.
He had to crash out of the Japan Grand Prix after what Red Bull later said was a faulty steering system and issues with the front suspension components. He then had to retire from the Chinese Grand Prix after the RB22 suffered a cooling failure, which made the car unfit for the race. Similarly, in Monaco, his power grid gave up during the race, and Red Bull later confirmed an engine failure.
