Verstappen reacts to dramatic Dutch GP crash as he sums up ‘disappointing’ home weekend

Max Verstappen was unable to complete a lap of Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix at the Zandvoort Circuit, with the Red Bull driver dramatically crashing out in front of his home fans.

Verstappen arrived at the event amid a wave of positivity after agreeing a contract extension that will keep him at the Milton Keynes-based team until at least the end of 2030.

However, as Red Bull struggled for pace throughout the Sprint event, the four-time World Champion’s already “disappointing” weekend concluded when he rounded the final corner of his opening lap.

Losing control on the inside of the banking, which was still damp in places due to pre-race showers, Verstappen’s car slammed into the barriers on the outside of the track, slid back across it and then came to a halt with one of its wheels missing.

Asked how he was feeling when he arrived at the television pen, given the significant impact, Verstappen said: “Good. I think I still hit the SAFER barrier maybe, potentially.

“But I think also a more frontal impact [with the barrier] is actually a bit better than a sideways one, so from that sense all okay.”

Verstappen was then asked for his overriding emotions from the weekend as a whole – Zandvoort, and his home race, now dropping off the F1 calendar.

“This weekend, of course, [was] disappointing,” he said. “I think disappointing pace, and a disappointing end to the weekend. I think you can sum it up like that.”