Max Verstappen admits that a dramatic loss of engine power on the opening lap left him fearing the very worst.

The Dutchman went around the outside of pole-sitter Kimi Antonelli at the start, and subsequently led the field down the hill towards Eau Rouge.

However, despite his brilliance in making the move and catching the teenager on the hop, the four-time world champion had already depleted his energy pack and was therefore left helpless as the field headed up the Kemmel Straight.

"Yeah, well clearly too much deployment from Turn 1 to Turn 2," the Dutchman told reporters post-race. "I went through Eau Rouge, I looked at my battery status like 'well that's going to be a difficult run to Les Combes'," he added.

"I expected, of course, Kimi to come by," he continued, "and then I look in my mirror and I just saw a red rocket coming. I was like 'oh I'll just hold my line because if I move here we're gonna have an aeroplane shunt'.

"It was pretty incredible, the differences," he said of the various differences in battery deployment on the opening lap, a difference to which George Russell can bear witness.

"I mean, welcome to a Formula 1 '26," added the Dutchman, "sometimes it can be a jungle."

Jungle or not, the Red Bull driver admitted that his Spa weekend wasn't all bad.

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

"We got a little bit unlucky with the VSC," he added, "I could have potentially fought with Charles, but the second stint was just a little bit worse than I hoped for.

"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," he admitted.

Check out our Sunday gallery from Spa here.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Spindoctor, 9 hours ago

"Given all the "problems" & the incredible "danger" I'd suggest that the drivers get Zero deployment for the 1st lap, or maybe more....
That should give them time to sort-out things without enormous speed differentials & closing speeds."

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2. Posted by Burton, 13 hours ago

"Drivers can't defend properly = even more guaranteed overtakes! Just what Doctor Toto ordered!"

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Verstappen feared "aeroplane shunt"

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