Onboard footage catches Verstappen’s epic save at site of Piastri crash
Results from the Brazilian GP Sprint, with Oscar Piastri, Nico Hulkenberg, and Franco Colapinto in the wall.
Max Verstappen almost joined Oscar Piastri in the Turn 3 barrier during the Sprint race at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The big difference is that Verstappen managed to catch his RB21.
How Max Verstappen avoided joining Oscar Piastri in the T3 barrier
Piastri lined up third on the grid for the short 24-lap race, three positions ahead of Verstappen and was running third in pursuit of Kimi Antonelli when he lost control of his McLaren after touching a wet kerb and spun off into the Turn 3 barrier.
He was the first of three drivers in quick succession that hit that barrier, Piastri joined by Nico Hulkenberg and Franco Colapinto. The race was red flagged as a result.
However, there was almost a fourth driver in the barrier – Max Verstappen.
Running in fifth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, onboard footage from Verstappen’s RB21 shows he also touched the kerb and started going sideways as Piastri had done.
Verstappen, though, was able to catch it with some quick hand moments and continued in the race, which he finished in fourth place.
A fan in the grandstand captured another view of the moment and posted it on X.
this pov of max almost losing the car as well😭 pic.twitter.com/8VGwwpo7f8
— cinn (@MV1GOLD) November 9, 2025
Verstappen can be seen in the footage driving past Piastri’s stricken MCL39.
Explaining what led to his crash, Piastri said: “I used it [the kerb] a little bit the lap before. Looking back at the lap, I think a couple of the guys ahead also used it and potentially put a bit more water where I went.
“Probably shouldn’t have been on the kerb anyway, but I think the track was in a different state to the lap before as well – and clearly I wasn’t the only one that got caught out by that.
“It was a little bit wide, but nothing major,” he added of his line.
“And I took the same line as the cars ahead, or certainly one of the cars ahead, and unfortunately, the consequences were, were a lot bigger.
“It clearly splashed up quite a lot of water when that happened.
“Again, I probably shouldn’t have been on the kerb, but a bit unfortunate that the consequences were so high.”
Piastri’s troubles continued in the grand prix where he finished fifth after being slapped with a 10-second penalty for contact with Kimi Antonelli.
On a day when Norris won, adding to his Sprint victory, and Verstappen joined the Briton on the podium, Piastri lost ground to his teammate in the championship while Verstappen was able to close up on the Australian driver.
Norris leads the Drivers’ standings on 390 points, 24 up on Piastri, who in turn is 25 ahead of Verstappen.
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