Max Verstappen 'got lucky' in massive crash: 'That could have a really bad outcome'

Nico Rosberg has reflected on Max Verstappen's dramatic first-lap crash at the Dutch Grand Prix, warning the four-time F1 drivers' champion was fortunate to escape a far worse outcome after his Red Bull was thrown back across the circuit and into the path of the oncoming pack.

The Dutchman's home farewell at Zandvoort, the final F1 round at the circuit for the foreseeable future, lasted barely a lap.

Running seventh after qualifying in the same position, he lost control at the banked final corner on a treacherous damp-but-drying track.

On slick tyres, the 28-year-old touched a wet patch on the inside of the corner, applied too much throttle, and was sent spinning into the outside concrete wall at high speed.

The impact was severe. At least one wheel was ripped off, the right-side suspension destroyed, and the stricken RB22 slid back across the racing line, forcing Pierre Gasly to take evasive action as the rest of the field arrived. A red flag was shown immediately. Verstappen climbed out unaided, telling his team over the radio he was okay before apologising.

"First of all, it's wet there. It's wet, dry; it's a mix of everything. It's incredibly difficult on slick tyres to drive through this high-speed, fast corner," Rosberg said on Sky Sports F1 during the red flag stoppage. "It's the hardest thing in the world.

"Max is clearly tighter than everybody else, and when you look more closely it looks like the dry patch is offset about 50 centimetres from the inside.

"I think he just put a bit too much throttle down and you're gone. He's the greatest driver out there, one of the greatest of all time, that just goes to show how difficult it is in these conditions.

"Probably that was Max's mistake."

A weekend to forget

Verstappen himself accepted responsibility, saying the conditions simply caught him out. He acknowledged he went back on the throttle too early, describing it as a "typical driver error" in treacherous mixed conditions. He also noted how fortunate it was that the cars behind managed to avoid his stricken Red Bull.

The crash capped a deeply frustrating weekend for Verstappen and Red Bull. The RB22 was off the pace throughout, with Verstappen finishing only sixth in the sprint and never looking like a genuine contender.

Battling flu-like symptoms, he could manage no better than seventh on the grid for the main event, nearly half a second adrift of Lando Norris' pole time.

The McLaren went on to win the race comfortably, finishing over 11 seconds clear of Kimi Antonelli in second, with George Russell completing the podium. Red Bull's only points from the grand prix came via the impressive stand-in performance from Liam Lawson in seventh.

"It was a huge pity because everybody's there cheering him on, and then to go out of the race so early on like that," Rosberg added of Verstappen after the race.

"But it was the conditions. We were saying, 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 of the moment, the greatest driver here, had a big crash.

"And as Max said, we really got lucky there, because if he spins and remains in the middle of the track, and you have the whole pack coming at full speed, that can be a multi-car massive shunt with people driving right into him, and that could have a really bad outcome. So he even got a bit lucky there."