Max Verstappen demands ‘better protection’ at Spa following death of 18-year-old Dilano van ‘T Hoff

World champion Max Verstappen called for changes at the Belgian Spa-Francorchamps circuit after the ‘unacceptable’ death there Saturday of an 18-year-old Dutch driver.

Dilano van ‘t Hoff’s died in a Formula Regional European Championship race when he was picked up at high speed by Irish driver Adam Fitzgerald in wet conditions – an incident reminiscent of the death of Anthoine Hubert in a Formula 2 race at the steepling track four years ago.

Verstappen said he did not know his compatriot personally, but added: “He had the same dream as all of us when we were growing up. We need to see what we can do to protect people, because what happened today was unacceptable.”

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll went further by saying that motor racing is ‘playing with fire’ unless changes are made to the Eau Rouge/Raidillon complex which merges into the Kemmel straight – the scene of yesterday’s death.

With Formula 1 at Spa at the end of the month, the Canadian said: “The story of the day is not the sprint race here. We lost a young driver in Spa today. My thoughts are with him and his family.

“It’s not fair what happened and that angle needs to be looked at and changed because we’ve lost two young talents in five years.

“Every time we go through that, we risk our lives and today we saw something bad happen, and it doesn’t add up.”

The run-off area at Raidillon has been renovated in response to Hubert’s death, but Stroll believes stricter reforms are needed. “It’s not enough,” he said. We talk about it, but then it blows over. Without changes, they would be playing with fire again in a few weeks. And we are not alone. F2 kids, F3 kids. Everyone.’

A minute’s silence was held on the grid prior to Saturday’s Formula 2 race. F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali was present, his face stern.