Untelevised footage from the Australian Grand Prix has revealed the moment Max Verstappen almost lost control of his Red Bull while entering the pit lane.

It came after a frantic couple of laps in which Verstappen and Red Bull debated over whether to pit for intermediate tyres as rain struck Albert Park.

Max Verstappen ‘save’ revealed after frantic Red Bull team radio debate

The opening race of the F1 2025 season took a dramatic turn on Lap 44 when rain hit the track, with McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri running off track on the exit of Turn 12.

While Norris was able to scoop up the moment and pit for intermediates immediately, Piastri spun on to the grass and dropped several places as he sought to engage reverse gear.

Verstappen was running third at the time of the incident and gambled by staying out on slicks in the hope that the shower would be brief.

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The Red Bull driver eventually abandoned the plan by pitting two laps later, stopping for intermediates at the end of Lap 46.

He ultimately finished second, crossing the line just 0.895 seconds behind Norris.

A clip has surfaced on social media has shown Verstappen twice almost losing control of his RB21 as he made his way into the narrow pit lane.

After catching a relatively small power slide as he applied the throttle, Verstappen then catches a more significant sideways moment.

Verstappen’s ‘save’ came at the end of a heated debate between team and driver of whether to commit to staying out and surviving in the rain.

At the start of Lap 45, moments after Norris has entered the pits, Verstappen is heard saying: “I need to box next lap. Keep an eye on it.”

His race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase replies: “Understood, Max. Take care. Take care.”

As Verstappen enters the final sector of the lap, a flustered Lambiase says: “Give us your thoughts, Max. Just let us know by Turn 13.”

Verstappen: “It’s dry until here.”

Lambiase: “Let us know by Turn 13.”

As he navigates Turn 11, Verstappen adds: “Here it’s very wet. Quite slippery.”

Lambiase replies: “Take care. Your first two sectors were strong.”

There is a pause before Lambiase makes the decision: “Stay out, Max.”

As Verstappen approaches the end of the 46th lap, Lambiase suggests that he should continue to stay out.

He says: “So currently first sector still quicker than Norris; sector two the same; sector three only four seconds slower. Stay out for now, I will let you know.”

With Verstappen visibly cautious in the third sector, however, Lambiase changes his mind: “Box, Max, box. Box and confirm. Box and confirm.”

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Speaking in the post-race press conference, Verstappen admitted there had been some “panic” after the McLaren drivers went off the track but insisted it was “worth the gamble” to stay out.

He said: “It started to rain a bit, they went off, so it was a bit like a panic: ‘Oh, I need to box.’

“So they went [in], I stayed out the first time.

“Honestly, the first lap, I think it was alright, but then unfortunately the weather continued a little bit more on the other side of the track as well and we had to box.

“At the end of the day, even if we had boxed one lap earlier we would have still been P2 after that stop.

“I think it was worth the gamble. It was quite spicy out there with the slick tyres, but it was alright at the end.”

Norris’s victory in the F1 2025 curtain raiser has seen Verstappen lose the lead of the Drivers’ standings for the first time in almost three years.

Verstappen had been at the top of the standings since May 2022, having taken the lead of that year’s World Championship from Charles Leclerc at the Spanish Grand Prix.

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