Verstappen crashes out of final home Dutch GP

Max Verstappen’s final home Dutch Grand Prix ended after a single lap when he crashed heavily in the damp final corner at Zandvoort, triggering a red flag and cutting short his farewell appearance before the race drops off the Formula 1 calendar.

The Red Bull driver was running seventh after a difficult qualifying session when he lost control at the end of lap one in the banked Arie Luyendykbocht. On a track left patchy by rain before the start, Verstappen tagged the white line on the inside, hit the outside wall head-on and then slid back across the circuit before coming to rest on the inside with major damage.

The incident could easily have collected others as the car rebounded through traffic, but Pierre Gasly avoided the wreckage. Behind them, Audi driver Gabriel Bortoleto also spun at the same corner without hitting the barriers, reinforcing how treacherous the conditions were with the field on slick tyres.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull driver, said the crash came from misjudging the grip as the circuit dried. “It is okay, it can happen, and then I got caught out in that corner; it was still quite wet, and as soon as I saw the dry patch coming, I was like: ‘now you can accelerate,’ and clearly that didn't work, so it was a bit too early,” he told media including RacingNews365. He added that it was “a decent hit, but it was okay.”

Verstappen said the wider frustration was Red Bull’s lack of pace across the weekend rather than the mistake itself. “It was a disappointing weekend; we just couldn't really fight with the guys ahead, that is the most disappointing part,” he said, adding that he hoped the team could be “a little more competitive” at Monza.

The stoppage sent the field back to the pit lane, where teams were permitted to change tyres before the restart. Lando Norris still led after the chaotic opening lap, while championship leader Kimi Antonelli had already taken second from George Russell. Charles Leclerc was up to fourth ahead of Oscar Piastri and Lewis Hamilton.

That left Verstappen’s home race ending in the harshest way at a circuit where he had defined the Dutch Grand Prix revival, winning at Zandvoort in 2021, 2022 and 2023 before organizers chose not to renew the event’s Formula 1 contract.