Verstappen reveals how he got his hand stuck in F1 cockpit in qualifying

Max Verstappen explained how he got his left-hand stuck in his Red Bull F1 cockpit while driving to correct his car in qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

It occurred when Verstappen had a moment in Q1 while trying to save his Red Bull car into Turn 6 hairpin.

As he tried to correct the car, his left-hand got stuck in the cockpit and he was forced to save it with one hand.

The Dutchman had to abandon his first effort in Q1 but soon got a time on the board as he safely progressed through to the next session.

Speaking of the issue, Verstappen said: “I think it must have been something unfortunate that I got stuck. I think it was between the wheel and my knee.

“It never happened to me before but I was just steering towards the wall. Just an unfortunate action.”

Qualifying went smoothly for Verstappen after it as he secured Red Bull's first pole since Brazil 2019 and the first non-Mercedes powered pole of the season.

After being within a tenth of Valtteri Bottas’ pole time last time out in Sakhir, Verstappen was pleased to finally end his pole drought.

“It feels nice,” Verstappen added. “The whole year we were closing in a little bit and I missed out a few times, and then finally to at least sit here once after the dominance they had throughout the year is very nice to us and the whole team as well.

“It’s been a very long season in a short season period of time, a lot of races so I think everyone wants the break but to have pole position here is a good motivation for everyone in the team to try and finish it off tomorrow.”