Dutch teenager Dilano van’t Hoff dies in crash at Spa
Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inbox
Media reports said Dutch driver Dilano van’t Hoff was caught up in a multi-car collision at Spa-Francorchamps.
PHOTO: FIA FORMULA 2/FACEBOOK
Follow topic:
SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS – Dutch teenager Dilano van’t Hoff died in an accident during a wet Formula Regional European Championship race at Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps circuit on Saturday, his team said.
The 18-year-old, who won the 2021 Spanish F4 championship, was racing for the Dutch MP Motorsport outfit at the Belgian Grand Prix circuit.
“MP Motorsport is deeply saddened to confirm that our driver, Dilano van’t Hoff, has passed away as a result of a crash during the second race of the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine at Spa-Francorchamps,” they said.
The race, in wet conditions with heavy spray, was on the support programme for the 24 Hours of Spa endurance race.
Formula Two teams and drivers competing at the Austrian Grand Prix held a minute’s silence.
“Dilano died in pursuit of his dream to reach the pinnacle of motorsport. Along with the entire motorsport community, our thoughts are with his family and loved ones,” said Formula One chief executive Stefano Domenicali.
Media reports said van’t Hoff was caught up in a multi-car collision during a late restart.
His death came after French racer Anthoine Hubert died four years ago in an F2 race,
Along with the rest of the motor racing world, two-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen also expressed his condolences to van’t Hoff’s family following his compatriot’s untimely demise.
The Twitter post read: “Extremely sad to hear the news about Dilano today. I want to send my condolences to Dilano’s family and loved ones. Rest in peace.”
In Formula One action on Saturday, the Red Bull driver put in a dominant performance to win the Austrian Grand Prix sprint race at his team’s home circuit in Spielberg.
The two-time world champion and series leader was joined on the podium by teammate Sergio Perez, more than 21 seconds back in the 24-lap, 100km stand-alone race, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz third.
The two Red Bulls at the front of the grid had a bit of a difficult start when they nearly collided during the first sector of the first lap, but thankfully for them there was no harm done in the end.
“The start wasn’t ideal, a bit of wheelspin,” said Verstappen.
“But after the first lap when we got back into the lead it was just about managing the tyres...
“It was a little bit of a hairy moment out of Turn 1. When you get forced onto the grass it’s very slippery, but we managed to keep control and from there we just did our race again.”
The Dutchman was deep in conversation with Perez after the race and the latter admitted his teammate was not happy.
“It was a good start, but a bit of a fight with Max,” said Perez.
“I think Max was angry that I went into Turn 2. But I didn’t see him there. I had a bad Turn 1, so I tried to protect.
“Once I realised he was there, I opened the door and gave the place back into Turn 2. But it was all fine, we spoke about it. Although we were one-two, it was very bad the visibility out there.”
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso finished fourth and fifth, with Nico Hulkenberg sixth for Haas, Esteban Ocon seventh for Alpine and George Russell bagging the final point for Mercedes.
Sainz, meanwhile, agreed with Perez that the conditions were not great, but he was confident that his Ferrari could match up to the Red Bulls.
“Tricky conditions out there,” the Spaniard said.
“It looked like we had decent pace. I could stay close to Checo (Perez) but the Red Bulls were just a bit too quick for us.
“I think they were maybe a bit quicker but there was a point in the middle of the race when I felt a bit more confident. My tyres degraded a bit and I couldn’t stay close to Checo in dirty air.”
Verstappen will now head the grid for Sunday’s main race where he is hunting his seventh win from nine this season. REUTERS, AFP
