The Red Bull star spun under braking before he even began to turn into the first corner of his opening qualifying lap, sending him nose-first into the barriers.
Verstappen's crash brought a red flag down on qualifying, with the Dutchman missing out on recording a time.
"The car just locked on the rear axels. Fantastic," Verstappen said over the Red Bull team radio, before exiting the car shaking his wrist.
His crash also helped ensure rising Mercedes star Kimi Antonelli was able to make it to the track for qualifying one, after ending up in the barriers in practice.
Mercedes mechanics had faced a race against time to get the rear of Antonelli's car fixed in time for qualifying, with work continuing once the pit lane opened.
But Verstappen's crash has played straight into the Italian's hands, with the Mercedes seemingly the quickest car to start this season.
Carlos Sainz and Lance Stroll were, however, unable to make in onto the track in their Williams and Aston Martin respectively, owing to mechanical issues.
Local-hope Oscar Piastri progressed through to the second stage of qualifying, finishing second behind George Russell, with the top 16 going through.
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