'It's easy to blame the track' - Verstappen defends Spa after death of young driver

Max Verstappen was cautious about blaming the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium for a fatal crash that claimed the life of a fellow Dutchman on Saturday, 1 July.

The defending double world champion won a rain-hit wet-and-dry sprint race ahead of Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez before he commented on the tragedy at the Belgian circuit, one of his favourites.

Verstappen said he felt "incredibly sad" to learn of the death of teenager Dilano Van 't Hoff in rain-swept conditions on the Kemmel Straight in an accident during a Formula Regional European Championship race.

READ: Austrian Grand Prix - Verstappen wins Sprint Race on Intermediate tyre

"I didn't know him personally," he explained.

"He was a Dutch racing driver, an up-and-coming driver who had the same dreams as we all had when we were at that age, wanting to get into Formula 1 or whatever.

"It's incredibly sad for the whole family and all involved. The team MP Motorsport - I know quite a lot of people in there."

“We are so sad to learn of the passing of Dilano van 't Hoff today at Spa-Francorchamps.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.”Stefano Domenicali pic.twitter.com/Kn0gklf9RN

Don't blame Spa

He added that lessons should be learned from the crash but cautioned against blaming the circuit layout.

"We have to look into these kind of situations. It's easy to blame the track, but I think also, looking at how wet it was and these kinds of things, there are definitely things that we have to look at for the future.

"What can we do to protect the drivers better? I think today it was unnecessary really."

Van 't Hoff, 18, was the second junior driver