2016 Formula 1 champion Nico Rosberg argued that Red Bull driver Max Verstappen was lucky to avoid triggering a multi-car pile-up during his opening-lap crash at the Dutch Grand Prix.
The four-time champion suffered a violent crash on the first lap of his home grand prix in damp conditions, which triggered the red flag and ended his race early. Luckily, no other driver was caught up in the crash, although Audi's Gabriel Bortoleto spun behind Verstappen in an unrelated incident and managed to continue.
Speaking on Sky Sports F1 following the race, Rosberg explained: "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 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 could be a multi-car massive shunt with people driving right into him. That could have been a really bad outcome, so he even got a bit lucky there."
As a result of the crash, Verstappen walked away from his home race weekend with just three points, which he collected from a sixth-place finish in the sprint race. The Dutchman currently sits sixth in the drivers' standings with 112 points, 130 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli.
While speaking to Sky Sports F1 after his early exit from the race, Verstappen confirmed that he is looking to maximise everything he can from the car but that, realistically, he is in the fourth-fastest car on the grid.
"I mean, if you look at the average, the whole season we have been fourth fastest," he said. "So, I think this weekend really highlighted that, so we're definitely a little bit behind. We want to be closer. Maybe Monza we are, but I don't know.
"We're getting towards the end of the season. You also have to look at next year. I think there are a few things in the car that we are looking at that can only be changed next year to really find a lot more performance.
"So, we will just try to maximise everything we can with this car. But it's not going to be the most straightforward end to the season. But we'll try to do the best we can."
