Max Verstappen just renewed his commitment to Red Bull until at least 2030 right there at the Dutch Grand Prix, and honestly, the timing feels a little ironic given how tough the opening day of Formula 1 track action at Zandvoort was. The dude’s clearly in it for the long haul, but man, you gotta wonder what’s going on with that car.
FP1 Was a Rough Start, Y’all
First up, during practice, Verstappen was straight up complaining. We’re talking poor gearshift quality, which apparently is a regular issue with the car this year, plus low grip and an oversteer balance. It was so bad in the only practice session that he finished an unusually lowly 11th quickest. Seriously, 1.376s off Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes? That’s not the Max we know, and for a guy just committing to 2030, you’d expect a bit more from the machine under him.
A Step Forward, But Not Enough
Luckily, things shifted a bit for sprint qualifying after some setup changes. He actually made it into the final top-10 shootout and qualified sixth, which is at least ahead of Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari. Verstappen himself told F1 TV it was “a step forward from FP1,” but then came the kicker: “still lacking a little bit to be a little bit further up the road.” He needs to understand what they can do for tomorrow to find “a bit more grip, really , a bit of balance, a bit of grip to close the gap.” That’s not exactly a championship-winning vibe, is it? He found just over seven tenths of a second between FP1 and SQ1, clocking a 1m13.585s lap there. His stand-in teammate, Liam Lawson, actually went slightly faster in that session with a 1m13.420s. Lawson’s SQ2 time of 1m13.136s wasn’t even enough for SQ3, while Max’s 1m12.745s got him eighth.
The Gap Is Real, And It’s Concerning
In SQ3, Verstappen improved again to get sixth on the sprint grid with a 1m12.094s, but he fell a full 0.527s off George Russell’s pole position. That’s a huge margin when you consider the gap from Russell to Oscar Piastri’s McLaren in fourth was just 0.099s. Even Antonelli, who finished fifth and was 0.227s off his Mercedes teammate, was carrying damage! Lawson was at a loss, too, wondering why he only found three tenths between SQ1 and SQ2 when “normally you’d sort of improve through quali.” Verstappen’s resigned tone about just “going to get on with it” tells you everything. Red Bull usually conjures overnight setup magic, but unlike previous years, it’s just not enough to make the car a genuine contender for race wins anymore. What do they do now to find that grip and balance for tomorrow? Because right now, the competition is closing in, and the Red Bull just isn’t there.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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