Nico Rosberg believes Max Verstappen was very lucky at Zandvoort, his Red Bull having crossed back over the track in front of the pack at full speed.
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Max Verstappen’s Dutch Grand Prix lasted only one lap. For what could be his last appearance in Formula 1 at Zandvoort, the Dutchman violently destroyed his Red Bull in the last corner as grip conditions were particularly tricky.
Starting seventh, Verstappen was running on slick tires on a partially wet track after the showers preceding the start. In the last raised corner, he touched a still wet section before suddenly losing the rear of his RB22 and hitting the outside wall at high speed.
The impact heavily damaged the car, notably tearing off a wheel and destroying part of the right suspension. But for Nico Rosberg, the most worrying moment came just after: the crashed Red Bull crossed back over the track while the rest of the pack was coming behind it.
Rosberg highlights the extreme difficulty of the conditions
Present as a consultant for Sky Sports F1, Rosberg immediately analyzed the accident. The 2016 world champion emphasized the difficulty of negotiating such a fast corner with slicks while grip changed significantly from one part of the track to another.
According to him, Verstappen chose a slightly more inside line than the other drivers. However, the dry part seemed to be located a few dozen centimeters further away, leaving his Red Bull on a surface offering much less grip.
“First of all, it’s wet at that spot. It’s wet, dry, it’s a mix of everything. It’s incredibly difficult to go through this fast corner with slick tires. It’s the hardest thing in the world.”
“Max is clearly more inside than everyone else and, when you look closely, the dry zone seems shifted about 50 centimeters from the inside.”
A mistake by Verstappen despite his immense talent
Rosberg believes the four-time world champion probably simply applied too much power while his tires were still on a wet section. A minor mistake, but enough to cause an instant loss of control in such a fast corner.
“I think he just put a bit too much throttle and from there, it’s over. He’s the best driver currently, one of the best of all time, and it simply shows how difficult these conditions are.”
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“It was probably a mistake by Max.”
Verstappen himself did not look for excuses after his retirement. The Red Bull driver admitted to misjudging the track condition and accelerating too early when he thought he had found a sufficiently dry section.
“It could have ended very badly”
Although the accident was spectacular, Verstappen fortunately exited his car alone and unharmed. The race direction immediately showed the red flag to allow the evacuation of the RB22 and the cleaning of the many debris.
But Rosberg believes the Dutchman was especially very lucky in the seconds following the first impact. After hitting the outside wall, his car came back towards the racing line while several competitors were arriving at full speed.
Pierre Gasly notably had to perform an evasive maneuver. Liam Lawson, who was directly behind his teammate, was also in the front row and explained after the race that he had deliberately slowed down significantly due to his lack of confidence in the available grip.
“As Max said, we were really lucky. If he spins and stays in the middle of the track while the whole pack is coming at full speed, it could cause a huge accident involving several cars.”
“Drivers could have crashed directly into him and it could have ended very badly. So he was also a bit lucky.”
A nightmare weekend for Verstappen
This accident capped off a particularly difficult Dutch Grand Prix for Verstappen. Red Bull had never really found the pace at Zandvoort, the RB22 positioning behind McLaren, Mercedes, and Ferrari in the hierarchy.
Sixth in the Sprint, Verstappen then could do no better than seventh in qualifying, nearly half a second behind Lando Norris’s pole. The Dutchman was also weakened by flu symptoms throughout the weekend.
His retirement on the first lap definitively dashed the hopes of the Dutch public for the last edition of the Grand Prix at Zandvoort before its disappearance from the calendar. Norris eventually won ahead of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell, while Liam Lawson saved Red Bull’s weekend by securing seventh place.
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