Red Bull Racing star Max Verstappen: Here’s what he had to say about the crash at his home race

Max Verstappen knew even before the start that his final home race on the Zandvoort circuit would be no walk in the park. This was because what is, for the time being, the last Formula 1 showdown on the Dutch dune circuit was held in sprint format. And both the Sprint qualifying session and the mini-race itself had shown that the local hero was not among the favourites to win Sunday’s Grand Prix.

Hopes that the Red Bull Racing team might, as so often, turn things round overnight were dashed in Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday afternoon, when Verstappen could not manage better than seventh place. However, even the four-time world champion probably hadn’t expected that he wouldn’t even manage a single lap in his home race.

A rain shower that wet the track before the start proved to be his undoing. Although it didn’t take long for the rain to stop, there were still wet patches when the field got underway for the twelfth Grand Prix of the season. One of these patches proved his undoing in Turn 14. His RB22 spun off the track, crashed and triggered a red flag.

Afterwards, the 71-time Grand Prix winner explained: “It just caught me off guard. The track was still quite wet in that corner, and as soon as I saw a dry patch, I thought I could accelerate. But that obviously backfired.”

He’d experienced worse crashes before, Verstappen explained afterwards. “I feel fine; actually, it’s a bit better when you hit the barrier head-on rather than from the side. In that respect, everything’s okay. But the weekend was, of course, disappointing. To sum it up: our pace was disappointing, and it was a disappointing end to the weekend.”

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“I don’t think much would have been possible in the race given the pace we showed, but of course I’d have liked to have had a bit more driving time. I’d have liked to have had a bit of a fight. Now I hope we’ll be more competitive at Monza,” sighed the Dutchman, who has extended his contract with the Red Bull Racing team until the end of 2030.