Max Verstappen reacts to major crash during Dutch Grand Prix
Max Verstappen's wrecked Red Bull following his Dutch GP crash.
ZANDVOORT – Max Verstappen said he “got caught out” leading to a dramatic lap one crash that saw an early end to his final home grand prix.
The Dutchman’s home race was over almost as soon as it began after he took the inside line in the final corner, falling victim to the moisture on track and colliding with the barriers in a heavy impact that triggered the red flags.
Max Verstappen ‘caught out’ by track conditions.
Verstappen was thankfully able to walk away from the crash but it did hefty damage to his Red Bull car, ripping both left wheels off and leaving a mess of carbon fibre on the track.
It was a reminder that even a driver at the calibre of Verstappen can be caught out by the conditions with Zandvoort particularly prone to unexpected showers.
Verstappen, who has DNF’d the last three times he started P7, admitted he got “caught out” by the track conditions.
“I think the start is just a consequence of what is happening on the right,” he said of his tangle with Lewis Hamilton off the line. “It’s okay, it can happen.
“And then I got caught out. It was still quite wet in that corner, and then as soon as I saw the dry patch coming, I was like, now you can accelerate, but clearly that didn’t work.
“So probably it was still a bit too early.”
Asked about the crash intensity, Verstappen said he “had worse” and revealed it fell below the 15G barrier that requires drivers to go to the medical centre.
“It was a decent hit, but I’ve had worse,” he said. “I just asked, can I not go to the medical centre, and they were like, ‘it’s still below the threshold’.”
It was a disappointing end to a disappointing weekend for Verstappen whose familiar problems with the RB22 continued.
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“I think overall we had a disappointing weekend, pace-wise,” he said. “We just couldn’t really fight with the guys ahead, so that’s probably the most disappointing part.
“But, of course, I wish that we could have done a little bit more in the race, but looking at the pace that we are showing, I don’t think it was really possible anyway.
“Still would have liked to race, still would have liked to try and do a good job. Hopefully in Monza we can be a little bit more competitive.
“I’ve just not been feeling well. I’m just looking forward to a week break where I can just recover also, because I really didn’t feel good.
“I wish for more, but you need to be realistic this season. We are the fourth fastest team, so it’s not like rocking up to Zandvoort, suddenly we can do some magic things. It’s just how it is.
“Other teams have brought upgrades, we haven’t. When you’re already on the back foot, it’s even more on the back foot. So it’s nothing surprising. It’s just the reality that we live in.”
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