Lance Stroll DEMANDS change as F1 stars mourn Van 't Hoff death

Dilano Van 't Hoff

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Stroll DEMANDS change as F1 stars mourn Van 't Hoff death

Many drivers on the F1 grid expressed their sadness via social media after the news broke on Saturday

Joe Ellis

Saturday 1 July 2023 20:57

The stars of F1 have been paying tribute to Formula Regional driver Dilano Van 't Hoff after his untimely passing on Saturday (1 July).

The 18-year-old Dutch racer was involved in a multi-car incident at the famous Raidillon corner in torrential rain and the injuries he suffered proved to be fatal.

Max Verstappen, the F1 championship leader and a fellow Dutchman, led the tributes via his Instagram page, saying: "Extremely sad to hear the news about Dilano today. I want to send my condolences to Dilano’s family and loved ones. Rest in peace."

Luca Van 't Hoff, one of Dilano's relatives, replied to Verstappen, saying: "You were his great example. Thanks Max."

Stroll furious

Aston Martin ace Lance Stroll was particularly upset about the incident and called for changes to the Spa circuit.

"It breaks my heart what happened and I think Eau Rouge at Spa needs some looking into because we've lost two drivers now in four or five years," he said on Sky Sports F1.

"It's a really dangerous corner and we say it every year. It's not fair what happened today.

"That corner has to change. It's way too dangerous and every time we go through there it's an accident waiting to happen. Today it did happen again and we lost a young kid. It's not fair."

F1 mourns

"Racing for you today. Rest in Peace Dilano Van ‘t Hoff," Lando Norris said on his personal Instagram, along with a photo of the young Dutchman.

Mercedes driver George Russell said: "I am truly saddened to hear of Dilano's passing today in Spa. My thoughts are with his family and loved ones."

"We are so sad to learn of the passing of Dilano van 't Hoff today at Spa-Francorchamps," F1 boss Stefano Domenicali said.

"Dilano died in pursuit of his dream to reach the pinnacle of motorsport. Along with the entire motorsport community, our thoughts are with his family and loved ones.”

Jehan Daruvala, who races for MP Motorsport - Van 't Hoff's team - in Formula 2, said: "The race result is irrelevant today.

"Absolutely gutted to hear about the tragic passing of Dilano, one of our own at MP. My thoughts are with his family, friends, and everyone at Spa. RIP."

Too many times

This is not the first time we have experienced great loss at Spa-Francorchamps after the tragedy of Anthoine Hubert in 2019 during a Formula 2 race.

We've also seen drivers be severely injured in GT racing at the track and all of these incidents have come at the same Eau Rouge, Raidillon complex.

They are some of the most famous corners in the world but they are proving to be far too dangerous given the commonality of these incidents.

Matters were made worse on this occasion due to the rain on track harming visibility but we cannot continue to see short lives ended like this.

Spa has to make radical changes to the track if it wants to remain in business because more deaths at the track will see it unusable for any motorsport.