It was a sad weekend for the Netherlands and the wider motorsport community, with 18-year-old Dilano van’t Hoff losing his life in a Formula European race at the iconic Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium.
The Dutch teenager, driving for MP Motorsport, was involved in a multi-car crash on July 1.
In a wet race, the young driver lost control of the car coming out of the famous Raidillon corner that leads to the long Kemmel Straight. As he spun out, he was hit by a car from behind in conditions marred by poor visibility due to the spray.
In 2019, F2 driver Anthoine Hubert lost his life at the same venue, and F1 driver Lance Stroll called for changes to the circuit.
Meanwhile, in Austria, Max Verstappen won Red Bull’s home race convincingly, extending his championship lead with a fifth straight win of the season and seventh overall from nine events.
If one thought Verstappen winning every weekend was boring, this round of the Formula One championship was the Sprint Weekend. So on Saturday, fans had to see the reigning double world champion take pole position for it and then win the Sprint Race — later in the day — in a canter despite mixed conditions with some rain before the race.
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His teammate Sergio Perez briefly gave some hope by taking the lead at the start, but Verstappen quickly bullied him out of his way in a daring move that involved the Mexican driver yielding to avoid a crash.
Verstappen celebrates in parc ferme after winning the the F1 Grand Prix of Austria at Red Bull Ring on July 02, 2023 in Spielberg, Austria. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
F1 2023 has become a two-tier championship in which Verstappen is the only one competing for the two titles while the other 19 drivers, including his teammate and nine teams, are there to make up the numbers and provide some excitement for the fans.
To illustrate — the 25-year-old has 229 points, and Red Bull will have a 51-point lead over Mercedes (178) in the constructors’ race only through Verstappen, without accounting for Perez’s tally of 148.
In the main Grand Prix on Sunday, for the first time in the last couple of rounds, Verstappen relinquished the lead briefly when he pitted out of sequence from the others, which briefly allowed the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz to run 1-2 for a few laps.
The Red Bull was in its element at the scenic track nestled around the Styrian mountains. Verstappen clinically passed through the Ferraris without breaking a sweat after his pitstop and coasted to another win.
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His teammate Perez again had a miserable qualifying, falling foul of track limits and starting down in 15th. The Mexican did well enough to salvage a third-place finish in the dominant car behind Leclerc in the Ferrari and can take heart from the fact that he returned to the podium for the first time since the Miami GP.
MotoGP
In motorcycle racing, defending champion Francesco Bagnaia took his fourth win of the season at the Dutch GP in Assen. With this, he went into the summer break with a 35-point lead over Jorge Martin, with fellow Italian Marco Bezzecchi one point further behind in third place.
Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia celebrates after winning the MotoGP race at the Dutch Grand Prix in Assen, northern Netherlands, Sunday, June 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong) | Photo Credit: AP
At one of the fastest circuits on the calendar, Bezzecchi looked in fine form through the weekend after he took pole position and won the Sprint Race. But on Sunday, Bezzecchi squandered his pole position and fell to third at the start.
He eventually had to settle for second as the reigning champion Bagnaia in the factory Ducati team turned the tables on him to extend his lead.
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