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Max Verstappen avoids airplane shunt at Belgian Grand Prix practice

Motorsport.com • 1 min read • Latest: Jul 19, 2026, 5:34 PM

Last updated Jul 19, 2026

Max Verstappen avoids airplane shunt at Belgian Grand Prix practice

Summary

Max Verstappen experienced a better Belgian Grand Prix weekend than expected. Team principal Laurent Mekies had predicted challenges at Spa after prior struggles at Silverstone. Verstappen started strong on Friday and continued to show solid performance on Saturday, successfully avoiding a potentially dangerous incident referred to as an 'airplane shunt'.

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Key Details

•Red Bull anticipated struggles at Belgian Grand Prix.
•Verstappen had a strong start to the weekend.
•Laurent Mekies described Spa as an energy-starved circuit.
•The weekend showed fewer problems than expected.

Latest Updates

5:34 PMMotorsport.com — Max Verstappen jokes about F1’s "jungle" after avoiding an "airplane shunt" at Spa

What they're saying

"
Red Bull's Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix weekend turned out slightly better than expected. After all the struggles at Silverstone, team principal Laurent Mekies had anticipated another difficult weekend at what he described as an "energy-starved circuit", but in reality it proved less problematic. Max Verstappen made a strong start to the weekend on Friday and followed it up on Saturday by ...Keep reading
— Motorsport.com

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