Max Verstappen’s home Dutch Grand Prix lasted barely a lap. On the second tour of Zandvoort, the Red Bull driver clipped the white line on the inside of Turn 14 (Arie Luyendijkbocht), lost the rear of his car, and speared into the outside barrier. The impact tore the RB car apart, scattering debris across the track and triggering an immediate red flag.
Before the lights went out, bookmakers had given Verstappen just a 7% chance of winning in front of his home crowd. Those odds evaporated in an instant as his afternoon ended before it had really begun.
The good news came quickly. Over the radio, Verstappen delivered the message every fan wanted to hear: “I’m OK.”
The chaos didn’t end with Verstappen. Right behind him, Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto, known to many in the paddock as “Gabi,” was caught up in the incident and spun a full 360 degrees. Remarkably, the young Brazilian kept the car running and rejoined the race, an impressive piece of composure for a driver still finding his feet in F1.
Just behind that spin, veteran Nico Hulkenberg produced a save of his own. The German Audi driver came within a whisker of collecting the spinning Bortoleto, later describing the moment over team radio: “It was crazy with Gabi. I almost T-boned him.” A last-instant reaction was all that kept the two Audi-powered cars apart.
Between Verstappen’s violent shunt, Bortoleto’s spin, and Hulkenberg’s near-miss, it was a dramatic opening to the Dutch Grand Prix, and a race that Red Bull’s home hero will want to forget.
