Max Verstappen left seeking answers with Red Bull “too slow” in Friday practice

Max Verstappen is searching for answers after conceding Red Bull were simply “a bit too slow” during Friday practice at the F1 Dutch Grand Prix.

World championship leader Verstappen finished second to McLaren’s Lando Norris in mixed conditions during opening practice at Zandvoort, before placing only fifth-fastest in a dry FP2, 0.284 seconds off the pace set by Mercedes’ George Russell.

After the second session, Verstappen admitted: “Of course FP1 we didn’t really get a lot of running in but I guess in FP2 you could see a little bit more where you are.

“[We’re] a bit too slow on the short run, a bit too slow on the long run! So a bit of work to do.

“At the moment no clear answer of how to improve that specifically, but we’ll look into things. Just a bit too slow, as simple as that.”

Verstappen is unbeaten at Zandvoort since its return to the F1 calendar in 2021 and is seeking what would be a fourth consecutive victory at home.

But the three-time world champion goes into the race without a win in four races, having last stood on the top step of the podium at the Spanish Grand Prix in June.

“It’s where we have been the last few races, so it’s not really a surprise,” he added.

“We’ll try to just find a little bit more performance for Sunday.”

Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez was six tenths slower than Verstappen in second practice as he ended up 12th in the order.

“We’ve been testing quite a bit of stuff out there,” he explained.

“I think our day looks a little bit better than it shows in terms of order. I did a mistake into Turn 12, I went off, so I lost a couple of tenths.

“I think overall we’ve got some work to do, especially in the long-run pace, to try and match the people ahead. I think we’ve run both cars very differently, so I think we’ve got a busy day ahead.”

Perez has had to adjust to working with a new race engineer. That is because his normal engineer, Hugh Bird, is missing the next four races to go on paternity leave.

“It’s obviously a little bit new for all of us to have Woody [Richard Wood] as Race Engineer,” he said.

“It’s something that stands out on my side, but I think every session is just going to get better and [we’ll get] more used to it.”