Van 't Hoff, an 18-year-old talent racing for Dutch team MP Motorsport, was killed when he crashed on the Kemmel straight in heavy rain and was then hit laterally by a competitor, who was unable to see van 't Hoff's car due to the enormous amount of spray on the straight following the fearsome Raidillon corner.
Four years on from Anthoine Hubert's fatal accident at the 2019 F2 round at Spa, the tragedy raised new, uncomfortable questions on the future of the Eau Rouge and Raidillon complex, with Aston Martin's Lance Stroll one of the drivers saying the corner and its blind exit should be changed.
But it also brought the problem of racing single-seaters in the rain back into focus as open wheels generate vast amounts of spray that limits visibility, regardless of the circuit or corner combination.
The Formula Regional Europe by Alpine race was restarted with one lap to go after a safety car period for a previous incident.
In the Saturday press conference at the Austrian Grand Prix Verstappen said "it's easy to blame the track" and instead felt questions must be asked about why the race was restarted at all in those conditions.
"It's hugely sad, of course, my condolences to the entire family and to the MP team," Verstappen later told Dutch broadcaster Viaplay.
"We have to look at what we can improve. I saw some images from the race and it was very wet, so I think it was totally unnecessary to restart that race.
Source: Autosport