Max Verstappen had little warning before sliding into the wall during Practice 2 at the Austrian Grand Prix on Friday.
The Dutchman was completing a flying lap on the medium tyre when he simply lost control through the final corner and smashed the rear end into the barrier.
Though hot temperatures in Spielberg meant lap times slowed down in the afternoon as grip reduced, it was another weather factor which was to blame for Verstappen's rare off.
“I was already complaining on all my laps about the wind,” he told Sky Sports.
“It was really tricky. Some places you were just losing the rear and then going into that corner [Turn 10] you can suddenly see on the data that the rear just turned around.
“It definitely didn’t help. This year the cars are generally more sensitive to the wind as you could also see with Valtteri [Bottas] who lost it also," Max explained.
“Crashes can happen, unfortunately. Maybe it’s a good thing as now they [the mechanics] take the whole car apart and put new parts on it.”
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Any fear of a gearbox penalty was quickly dispelled as Red Bull confirmed it wasn't the race unit in the car at the time.
And that may be a relief as lost track time and a steady morning suggest the hosts face a tricky weekend.
“I don’t know yet," Verstappen said of qualifying aspirations. “We still have a lot of work to do and it can still be better in terms of balance and then we will find out tomorrow.
“It was enjoyable and I was happy in the car and that’s what I focus on. It’s been alright.”
