Max Verstappen admits to giving F1 rookie a slipstream after his qualifying was ruined in Austria

Max Verstappen admitted to giving rookie Gabriel Bortoleto a slipstream following the end of his qualifying session at the Austrian Grand Prix on Saturday, June 28. The 27-year-old explained how he opted to punch a hole in the air for the young Sauber driver after a yellow flag incident ruined his own qualifying lap in Q3.

The Red Bull Racing driver, who was on his final push lap, was forced to abort it following a wild spin by Pierre Gasly near the start-finish line. The Alpine driver, who was also attempting to set a lap time, lost control and spun just before beginning his lap.

Although Gasly managed to save his car from any major impact, the 29-year-old briefly caused yellow flags to be waved, which ruined the laps of several drivers who were on push laps, including Verstappen. With his lap compromised, the Dutchman chose to offer a slipstream to Bortoleto, who was just about to start his flying lap.

Reflecting on the incident during post-qualifying media interaction, Max Verstappen spoke about the slipstream he gave to the young Brazilian driver.

“My lap was already ruined, I saw him behind me, and he has had a really good weekend, so I thought, let me help him a bit,” he said.

The gesture from Max Verstappen proved to be quite helpful for Gabriel Bortoleto, as he went on to record his and his team’s best qualifying position of the season so far — eighth. For Verstappen, however, the yellow flag incident meant he equalled his joint-worst starting position of the 2025 campaign — seventh.

How Max Verstappen reacted to his Austrian Grand Prix qualifying result

Max Verstappen also offered a candid assessment of his outing in the Austrian Grand Prix qualifying. The four-time F1 champion, who was competing in his team’s home race, could only manage a seventh-place finish at the Red Bull Ring.

Verstappen had struggled with the Red Bull car throughout the weekend and appeared off the pace compared to the front-running McLaren cars heading into the final round of qualifying. However, a yellow flag caused by his former teammate, Pierre Gasly, meant he couldn't complete his final push lap of the session.

Nonetheless, following the conclusion of qualifying, the reigning world champion spoke to the media to share his thoughts on the session. Verstappen highlighted the difficulties he faced with the car throughout the event at the Spielberg track. ” Verstappen said (via Formula 1’s official website):

“Everything fell apart a bit. Every corner was a bit of a struggle, to be honest. No balance—no front, no rear—in different places of the corner, so that made it very difficult to get in a rhythm and find a benchmark. Even with the final lap, of course, I had a yellow so I had to abort. It was still not even close to pole, so that was quite a painful qualifying for us.”

The Red Bull star seemed to have little optimism for the main race on Sunday, noting that warmer weather could further hinder the team’s performance.

“Yeah, but tomorrow’s probably going to be even warmer than today. It seems like as soon as it got warmer, it made our struggles even worse. That doesn’t look great, but we’ll see tomorrow. Maybe there will be some surprises in the race,” he added.

While it wasn’t the ideal Saturday for him, it’s worth noting that Max Verstappen holds the title of the most dominant driver around the Spielberg circuit with four wins. Whether the Red Bull driver can tap into that record and produce a strong comeback remains to be seen.