It won't be what the legions of orange army fans want to hear, but home favourite Max Verstappen has suggested that Red Bull is currently lacking both long and short run pace this weekend in Zandvoort.
Verstappen has won all three Dutch Grands Prix since the race returned to the F1 calendar in 2021, and currently holds a big points lead of this year's drivers championship which would appear to make him favourite to win again on Sunday.
But the Red Bull was off the boil leading up to the summer break, and Verstappen hasn't won a race since the Spanish GP in June, with Mercedes and McLaren finding more performance in the last four races.
The same appeared to be the case on Friday. Although Verstappen was second quickest in FP1, Lando Norris was two tenths quicker. And in the afternoon, George Russell, Oscar Piastri, Lewis Hamilton and Norris were all faster.
Those sessions were held in tricky conditions, with rain in the first and high gusting winds throughout meaning the times should be taken with a pinch of salt. But Verstappen himself suggested that Red Bull was again not up to speed.
“FP1 we didn’t get a lot of running in, but in FP2 the weather cleared up for FP2 and as a result we could see a little bit more where we were," he told the media in the paddock after the end of the day's sessions.
"A bit too slow on the short run, bit too slow on the long run," he acknowledged. "At the moment no clear answer of how to improve that specifically, but we will look into things.
"A bit too slow, simple as that," he said. “It’s where we have been the last few races so it’s not really a surprise,” he added. “So yeah, a bit of work to do. We’ll try to just find a little bit more performance for Sunday.”
The view was no better on the other side of the garage where Verstappen's team mate Sergio Perez also had a subdued time in the cockpit as he battles to keep hold of his spot in the Red Bull line-up.
“I think our day looks a little bit better than it shows in terms of order," he insisted afterward. “We’ve been testing quite a bit of stuff out there.
"I did a mistake into turn 12, I went off so I lost a couple of tenths," he admitted. "Overall we’ve got some work to do, especially in the long run pace to try to match the people ahead."
Because of the changeable conditions - more rain is forecast for Saturday which will compromise preparations for qualifying and the race - the team has been trying to get the most out of what dry track time is can get.
“I think we’ve run both cars very differently so I think we’ve got a busy day ahead," Perez predicted. "Qualifying will be important here so we need to maximise tomorrow."
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