Dutch Grand Prix: F1 star in shock after red flag crash

Dutch Grand Prix

F1 star in SHOCK after red flag crash at Dutch GP

The session was paused after the incident

Rhys Thomas

Friday 23 August 2024 16:44 Updated: 18:26

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Nico Hulkenberg brought out the first red flag of the weekend at Zandvoort with a crash in FP2 at the Dutch Grand Prix.

Several drivers had previously locked up and gone into the gravel at Turn 1, but the Haas driver was the first to end up in the barrier after locking up his rear tyres and spinning round to bring an early end to his session.

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The German's car slowed enough through the gravel to only tap the barrier, and he was able to walk back to the pitlane.

Over team radio, he seemed to be in shock after the incident, saying: "I don’t know what happened there."

Nico Hulkenberg brought out the first red flag of the weekend

The Haas driver took to the gravel in a spin at Turn 1

Impact of Hulkenberg crash at Dutch GP

Though it does not appear to be a massive repair job for the Haas mechanics, Hulkenberg will be frustrated to miss what was a session with heightened importance after the wet-dry FP1 outing.

The 37-year-old had already run off the track on more than one occasion in the earlier session.

That could suggest his VF-24 was more to blame for his FP2 crash than driver error, with Hulkenberg adding on radio that the rear "completely locked up on braking."

Nico Hulkenberg hit the barrier at Turn 1 to bring out the red flag

He was not the first to suffer a tricky moment in the session. Max Verstappen returned to the garage after a snap of oversteer nearly sent the reigning champion off-track.

Moments before Hulkenberg's crash, both George Russell and Sergio Perez took to the gravel, but safely returned to the circuit.

Carlos Sainz later became the second driver to see their session ended as a gearbox issue prematurely terminated his running.