Furious Formula Two star Victor Martins accused Alex Dunne of channelling his inner Max Verstappen during a horror crash. Both drivers crashed at Turn 1 of the feature race on Sunday morning, causing an incredible pile-up.
Martins enjoyed an excellent start, racing ahead of the pole-positioned Dunne on the first straight. He turned around the corner, but the aggressive Dunne came flying into the side of the Frenchman’s car. Drivers behind them attempted to avert the collision but to no avail, with many smashing into each other. In horrifying scenes, some cars briefly mounted others.
It was clear who Martins felt was at fault for the crash. Once the 23-year-old had emerged from his car, he was heard telling his team about Dunne: “Who does he think he is, Max Verstappen?”
He was referencing Dunne’s risky approach to the first corner and four-time Formula One Drivers’ Championship winner Verstappen’s aggressive driving style. Many F1 stars have been on the end of the Dutchman’s combative attempts to overtake.
Irish teenager Dunne had claimed pole position from Martins by a mere 0.003 seconds during qualifying. The latter was clearly keen to avenge that margin as he emerged quickest out onto the straight.
The crash meant that only 16 of the initial 22-car grid were able to complete the restart. A shorter race, owing to the need for the events before the main F1 Grand Prix to finish promptly, ended with Jack Crawford as the winner.
Meanwhile, the real Verstappen will need to come from P4 to claim his second consecutive race win. The Red Bull star was impeded by Lewis Hamilton during qualifying, with the Ferrari ace subsequently apologising as he had been incorrectly informed that Verstappen was on a slow lap.
“At the time, of course, I was like, ‘What is going on here?’ It was quite clear that there was a car in my way,” Verstappen said.
“But basically, the team [Ferrari] just told Lewis that I was suddenly driving slow. So then, of course, Lewis accelerates, which is I think normal, because he thinks that I’m on a slow lap, but I’m clearly not on a slow lap.
I know that it’s not his fault, but I even got a one-place grid penalty [in Qatar 2024] like not even impeding on a fast lap. So yeah, if you get away with that, I’m really surprised. It’s not like I’m trying to get Lewis a penalty. It’s just the precedent of what they have been using in the stewards’ room.”
