Max Verstappen narrowly avoids unusual injury ahead of Austrian Grand Prix
Max Verstappen is looking for a third successive Grand Prix victory on Sunday, but he nearly suffered a setback in the form of an unusual injury.
Max Verstappen hurt his elbow while sim racing ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix following some aggressive force-feedback from his wheel. The Red Bull star is aiming to make it three consecutive victories in Speilberg this weekend but will be thanking his lucky stars that he is fit to do so.
The three-time world champion was streaming his sim-racing adventures to his followers when, during a race, he crashed. The force feedback from the impact snapped the wheel out of his hand and, slightly out of shot, Verstappen hit his elbow. This impact caused visible distress to the Dutchman, who bent over in pain.
After the initial impact pain subsided, he exclaimed: “Ah, my elbow! Oh my God! Ow! What the hell…” He then adopted a lighter tone, breaking into a laugh and adding: “Injury! Injury! What happened? Lmp3 Monza.”
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This would have been a disastrous time for Verstappen to pick up an injury. The Dutchman is currently dragging Red Bull’s Constructors’ Championship title hopes along kicking and screaming. The three-time world champion has won three of the last five Grands Prix, but his team haven’t boasted the fastest machinery on any of those occasions.
The struggles of Verstappen’s team-mate have evidenced that fact. After coming home fourth in Miami, Sergio Perez has failed to finish higher than eighth in each of the last four races, picking up a measly four points in the process. That underwhelming return leaves him 108 points behind his team-mate in the standings.
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Verstappen now faces an uphill battle in the upcoming races at the Red Bull Ring and Silverstone with Lando Norris and McLaren the favourites in the eyes of many onlookers and Mercedes making significant gains with every passing week.
"I have been saying for weeks that we need to bring more performance to our car and everyone in the team knows that as well," Verstappen explained after the race in Barcelona. "So far, it looks like everyone around us is bringing more updates than we do.
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“Of course, we have to work on that, we find more performance for our own car as well. At the moment we just lack some speed. The gap to Checo is pretty big and I think that says a lot because I don't think Checo has become worse."
