Dilano van ‘t Hoff, an 18-year-old Dutch driver, died on Saturday at Spa. Other drivers harshly criticized the circuit’s famous Eau Rouge-Raidillon corner, while world champion Max Verstappen led an outpouring of sympathy for family and friends and demanded motorsport take action to better protect drivers.
Van ‘t Hoff lost his life in an accident at the Belgian Spa-Francorchamps track.
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.
Four years prior, on the same stretch of the track, Anthoine Hubert had lost his life 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.
F1 drivers, who will compete at Spa on July 30, expressed worry that the Eau Rouge-Raidillon sequence was no longer functional.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 really honest, there were instances in similar circumstances when I felt extremely dangerous due to the limited visibility and several circumstances where it just feels pretty unsafe.”
“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.