Max Verstappen’s worrying ‘too slow’ Red Bull RB20 verdict with ‘no clear answer’ at Dutch GP

Max Verstappen has admitted that the Red Bull RB20 was “just too slow” in practice at the Dutch Grand Prix, with “no clear answer” how to fix it at Zandvoort.

Having started the F1 2024 season with four wins from the first five races, Verstappen and Red Bull have found victories harder to come by over recent months with the reigning World Champion limited to just three wins in the last nine.

Max Verstappen: Red Bull RB20 ‘too slow’ at Dutch GP with ‘no clear answer’

Red Bull had arrived at the Dutch Grand Prix with renewed optimism following a thorough evaluation of the RB20 over the summer break, with team-mate Sergio Perez telling media including PlanetF1.com on Thursday that the team “know where they are with the car now” after finding “a lot of stuff.”

Despite Red Bull’s hope of a breakthrough, Verstappen and Perez were off the pace in FP2 at Zandvoort en route to fifth and 12th respectively, with the former slower than both Mercedes and McLarens.

Verstappen, who ended the afternoon session 0.284 seconds slower than the pace-setting Mercedes of George Russell, conceded that Red Bull are “a bit too slow” across the long and short runs at his home race – and admitted that there is “no clear” solution for the RB20’s ills at Zandvoort.

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He said: “In FP1, I didn’t really get a lot of running in, but I guess in FP2 you could see a little bit more where you are.

“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, there’s no clear answer of how to improve that specifically, but we’ll look into things.

“Just a bit too slow. Simple as that.”

Asked if he is surprised by Red Bull’s lack of pace, Verstappen remarked that it simply follows the pattern of recent races.

And he hinted that he will put all his efforts into getting the RB20 into a good window for Sunday’s race before the cars enter parc ferme conditions in qualifying.

He said: “It’s where we’ve been the last few races, so it’s not really a surprise. We’ll try to just find a little bit more performance for Sunday.”

Verstappen holds a 78-point lead over Lando Norris in the Drivers’ standings heading into the Dutch Grand Prix, with Red Bull’s advantage over McLaren currently standing at 42 points.

The 26-year-old is unbeaten at Zandvoort since the Dutch Grand Prix returned to the calendar in 2021, setting pole position at each of the last three editions of his home race.

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