Max Verstappen led a show of support for family and friends following the loss of Dilano van ‘t Hoff, an 18-year-old Dutch driver, on Saturday in Spa. The world champion also requested that motorsport improve its driver safety measures, saying his countryman’s death as senseless. Other drivers were harshly critical of the circuit’s famous Eau Rouge-Raidillon corner.
Van ‘t Hoff died in a crash at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium. He was racing for MP Motorsport in the Formula Regional European Championship and was involved in a multi-car accident during a wet restart. In very low vision owing to spray, it appears he spun and was hit at great speed when exiting Eau-Rouge-Raidillon near the beginning.
“It’s quite sad,” Verstappen added. “I didn’t know him personally, but he was a promising Dutch racing driver. He had the same dreams as we did when we were that age: to get to F1. It is terribly upsetting for the entire family and the MP Motorsport team.
“We need to look into these issues. It is easy to criticize the track, but given how wet it was and other factors, we must consider what we can do better in the future to protect drivers, since I believe today was absolutely unwarranted.
The event occurred four years after Anthoine Hubert was killed in a multiple-car collision in an F2 race on the same part of
Spa had improvements in late 2021 and 2022 to increase safety following a number of catastrophic accidents on this portion of the track, including the W number and the Spa 24 Hours. Notably, the run-off areas around Raidillon, the high-speed curve preceding Eau Rouge that leads into the Kemmel straight, were expanded to keep cars from being diverted back onto the track in the event of an accident.
However, F1 drivers who will race at Spa on July 30 expressed worry that the Eau Rouge-Raidillon sequence was no longer fit for purpose. “That area needs to be looked at and modified, since we’ve lost two young talents in around five years,” said Lance Stroll. “We’re heading there in a few weeks; every time we go through there, we risk our lives, and today something awful happened. It’s not correct.”
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly expressed similar sentiments. “It reminds me of circumstances I’ve encountered in the younger categories at Spa,” he remarked. ‘In similar conditions, and to be really honest, there were instances when I felt in huge danger simply because of low vision and other situations where it
Van ‘t Hoff’s MP team commented, “We are grieved by the death of one of our brightest Dutch talents, who added so much enthusiasm to our team over the years he raced with us.
“Dilano has been a member of our racing family since his motorsport debut with MP in 2021.” We extend our heartfelt sympathies to Dilano’s family and loved ones, and we stand fully behind them and our team members, who have lost not only a driver but also a friend.
Stefano Domenicali, CEO of Formula One, said: “We are deeply saddened to learn about Dilano van ‘t Hoff’s passing today at Spa-Francorchamps. Dilano perished pursuing his aim of reaching the top of motorsport. We, along with the rest of the motorsports community, are thinking about his family and loved ones.”
Teams expressed sorrow on Twitter. Red Bull commented, “Our thoughts are with Dilano’s family, friends, and the motorsport community as a whole. “Pausing to ponder on this young man’s untimely death, which occurred way too soon.” Mercedes stated, “Our sympathies are with the family and friends of Dilano van ‘t Hoff following today’s awful catastrophe,” while McLaren expressed their sadness.
There was a minute of silence before the Formula Two race at the Red Bull Ring, which preceded the F1 sprint race.
Van ‘t Hoff began racing single-seaters in the F4 UAE series in 2021, winning the Spanish F4 title that year before transitioning to Formula Regional in 2022.
