Nico Rosberg believes Max Verstappen was fortunate not to cause a major multi-car crash after his opening-lap incident at the Dutch Grand Prix. The Red Bull driver suffered a violent crash in damp conditions, triggering a red flag and ending his home race prematurely.
Fortunately, no other driver was collected in the crash. Audi's Gabriel Bortoleto spun behind Verstappen in an unrelated incident but managed to continue.
Speaking on Sky Sports F1, Rosberg explained that the tricky conditions were to blame. "Everybody's here cheering him on and then to go out of the race so early on like that, but it was the conditions. It's just so incredibly hard in those conditions and especially on the slick tyre to judge the limit of the grip there, and so even the greatest driver here had a big crash," Rosberg said.
He added that Verstappen was lucky because if his car had stopped in the middle of the track, the pack approaching at full speed could have ploughed into him. "That could have been a really bad outcome, so he even got a bit lucky there," he noted.
As a result, Verstappen left his home weekend with just three points from the sprint race. He now sits sixth in the standings with 112 points, 130 behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli.
Verstappen admitted the team currently has the fourth-fastest car on the grid. "On average, we have been fourth fastest all season. This weekend highlighted that. We're a bit behind. We want to be closer. Maybe at Monza we are, but I don't know," he said.
He also looked ahead to next year. "We're getting towards the end of the season. There are a few things in the car that can only be changed next year to find more performance. We'll try to maximise everything with this car, but it's not going to be the most straightforward end to the season," Verstappen concluded.
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