Verstappen feared ‘airplane shunt’ with Leclerc in Belgian GP

Max Verstappen says he was left astonished by the closing speed of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari on the opening lap of the Belgian Grand Prix, claiming he deliberately kept his on the run up to Les Combes to avoid what would have been a massive “airplane shunt”.

The Red Bull driver briefly seized the lead from polesitter Kimi Antonelli on the exit of La Source, but the move came at a cost.

In fighting for track position, Verstappen exhausted too much of his battery deployment before the field had even reached Eau Rouge, leaving himself vulnerable along the Kemmel Straight.

Antonelli quickly reclaimed the lead, but it was Ferrari’s remarkable straight-line speed that truly caught Verstappen off guard.

Max Verstappen has revealed he was left astonished by the closing speed of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari on the opening lap of the Belgian Grand Prix, claiming he deliberately refused to move on the run to Les Combes because doing so could have triggered what he described as “an airplane shunt”.

The Red Bull driver briefly seized the lead from polesitter Kimi Antonelli on the exit of La Source, but the move came at a cost. In fighting for track position, Verstappen exhausted too much of his battery deployment before the field had even reached Eau Rouge, leaving himself vulnerable along the Kemmel Straight.

Antonelli quickly reclaimed the lead, but it was Ferrari’s remarkable straight-line speed that truly caught Verstappen off guard.

‘I just saw a red rocket coming’

Looking back on the frantic opening lap, Verstappen admitted he knew the moment he glanced at his battery gauge that trouble was coming.

"Clearly, too much deployment from Turn 1 to Turn 2," Verstappen admitted. "Then I went through Eau Rouge, looked at my battery status and thought, ‘Well, that's going to be a difficult run to Les Combes.'"

He fully expected Antonelli to sweep back past. What he did not anticipate was the pace at which Leclerc arrived.

"I expected Kimi to come by, and then I looked in my mirror and just saw a red rocket coming," Verstappen said, referring to the Ferrari driver,” he added.

Rather than defending aggressively, the four-time world champion chose the safer option, believing any sudden move could have had dramatic consequences.

"I was like, 'Oh, I'll just hold my line because if I move here, we're going to have an airplane shunt.' So, it was pretty incredible, the [speed] differences."

For Verstappen, the dramatic swings in straight-line performance are simply another characteristic of Formula 1's current regulations.

"Welcome to F1 2026. Sometimes it can be a jungle."

Missed opportunity despite another podium

Although Verstappen briefly looked capable of challenging for victory, the race gradually slipped away.

After making his pit stop before a Virtual Safety Car period, Red Bull lost out strategically as Ferrari used the neutralisation to vault Leclerc ahead. Verstappen ultimately settled for third, unable to match the pace of the leading pair over the closing stages.

Despite the frustration, he viewed the weekend as a positive one given Red Bull's concerns heading into Spa after a difficult outing at Silverstone.

"I think overall the weekend for us was quite straightforward. The car was straight away in a decent window, so I think that just helps a lot,” he said.

He also felt the timing of the Virtual Safety Car robbed him of a better chance to fight Leclerc for second.

"To be honest, today we got a little bit unlucky with the VSC, and I could have potentially fought with Charles, but the second stint was just a little bit worse than I hoped for,” he acknowledged.

• Read also: Leclerc believed in Belgian GP win ‘until the end’

Verstappen explained that the hard tyres never delivered the balance he needed to maintain the pressure.

"I guess the balance was not where I wanted it to be for a long time during that stint, so I lost too much time in the first half of it. But for us to be on the podium here has been a good result,” the four-time world champion concluded.

A podium was ultimately a respectable reward for Red Bull at a circuit where expectations had been modest.

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