“Unnecessary and heartbreaking,” Max Verstappen comments on the driver’s death at Spa
Following the death of 18-year-old Dutch driver Dilano van ‘t Hoff on Saturday in Spa, Max Verstappen spearheaded an outpouring of condolences for friends and family. The world champion, who called his countryman’s death needless, also insisted that motorsport take steps to better protect drivers. The famous Eau Rouge-Raidillon turn on the track drew harsh criticism from other racers.
Van ‘t Hoff lost his life in an accident at the Belgian Spa-Francorchamps track. He was involved in a multi-car collision during a wet restart in a Formula Regional European Championship event while driving for MP Motorsport. He appeared to have spun and been struck at a high speed by the Adam Fitzgerald-driven RP Motorsport vehicle as he was leaving Eau-Rouge-Raidillon at the beginning of the Kemmel straight, in extremely poor visibility caused by spray.
Verstappen remarked, “It’s really sad.” I was not acquainted with him; he was a promising Dutch race car driver. He shared our aspirations to become Formula One drivers when we were that age. The entire family as well as the MP Motorsport team are devastated.
“We need to investigate these circumstances. Although it is simple to point the finger at the course, given how wet it was and other factors, we should consider how we might protect drivers going forward. In my opinion, today was obviously unnecessary.
The event happened four years after the same portion of the track claimed the life of Anthony Hubert in a multiple-car disaster during an F2 race.
After multiple catastrophic accidents, particularly those involving the W Series and the Spa 24 Hours, occurred through this portion of the circuit, Spa underwent repairs in late 2021 and early 2022 to increase safety. Notably, in order to keep cars from being redirected back onto the track in the event of an accident, the run-off areas around Raidillon, the high-speed curve that comes before Eau Rouge and runs into the Kemmel straight, were expanded.
F1 drivers, who will compete at Spa on July 30, expressed worry that the Eau Rouge-Raidillon sequence was no longer functional. Lance Stroll stated, “We lost two young talents in about five years, so that corner needs to be looked at and changed.” We risk our lives every time we pass through there, and today we witnessed a terrible incident. We’re heading there in a few weeks. It is incorrect.
Pierre Gasly from Alpine felt the same way. He remarked, “It makes me think of times when I was in the younger categories at Spa.” “To be perfectly honest, there were times when I felt extremely dangerous due to low visibility and other circumstances where it just felt unsafe,” the author writes.
“We are devastated at the loss of one of our brightest Dutch talents, who brought so much energy to our team during the years he raced with us,” the MP team of Van ‘t Hoff declared.
“Dilano joined our racing family when he made his motorsports debut in 2021 with MP. We extend our deepest sympathies to Dilano’s family and loved ones, and we stand with them, as well as our teammates who have lost a friend in addition to a driver.
