Max Verstappen admitted he made a mistake that led to his heavy crash on the opening lap of the 2026 Dutch Grand Prix. The incident at Zandvoort's banked final corner triggered a red flag and ended Red Bull's hopes of a strong home result.
Starting seventh after feeling unwell all weekend, Verstappen survived a chaotic run to Turn 1, where he was squeezed onto the grass in a four-wide moment, then held off stand-in teammate Liam Lawson. However, a rain shower some 50 minutes before the start left parts of the track damp. On lap one, Gabriel Bortoleto escaped a 360-degree spin, but Verstappen was not so fortunate. He lost control on a wet patch and hit the barriers hard. "I think the start is just a consequence of what is happening on the right. It's OK, it can happen," Verstappen said. "Then, yeah, I got caught out. It was still quite wet in that corner, and as soon as I saw the dry patch coming, I was like, 'Now you can accelerate', but clearly that didn't work. So probably it was still a bit too early."
Verstappen described the impact as "a decent hit" but added he had "had worse". Red Bull endured its worst race of the season, with Liam Lawson finishing seventh as the team's top car.
Verstappen admitted to "a disappointing weekend" in terms of pace, with McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes out of reach, but he was not surprised. "I wish for more, but you need to be realistic this season," he insisted. "We are the fourth-fastest team, so it's not like walking up to Zandvoort and suddenly we can do some magic things. It's just how it is, other teams have brought upgrades, we haven't. When you're already on the back foot, it puts you even more on the back foot. So, there's nothing surprising, it's just the reality that we live in."
The four-time world champion will now focus on recovering ahead of the Italian Grand Prix in two weeks. "I've just not been feeling well. I'm just looking forward to a break where I can just recover also, because I really didn't feel good," he said.
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