With three victories since the Dutch Grand Prix returned to the calendar in 2021, Max Verstappen can already look back on a very successful period. The final edition in 2026 has proven an ordeal so far, both in terms of Red Bull’s pace and Verstappen’s physical condition.

“I’ve felt better before, yes,” Verstappen admitted during the Dutch media session in the paddock after qualifying. “I feel a bit flu-like and I’m just not feeling as much energy as normal.”

Asked whether that also affects his performance behind the wheel, he continued: “No, I don’t think so. I think once you’re in the car, it’s actually fine.”

It does mean Verstappen is experiencing his final home race somewhat differently and is mainly looking forward to the moment he can get some rest: “Of course I still enjoy all the fans in the grandstands, but apart from that, I’m mostly looking forward to getting some sleep.”

Why Zandvoort exposes some fundamental Red Bull problems

Aside from Verstappen’s physical condition, Red Bull is also struggling for performance at the circuit in the dunes. The home hero had to settle for seventh on the grid and was more than four tenths behind polesitter Lando Norris in qualifying.

“We changed quite a lot on the car after the sprint, but none of it made any difference,” Verstappen said when asked by Autosport.

According to Verstappen, the Zandvoort circuit exposes some of Red Bull’s weaknesses to an exaggerated degree

Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images

“The balance of the car is the biggest problem. It’s just not consistent throughout the entire corner, but it has been like that all season. It’s just a little worse at some circuits than at others.”

In that respect, Zandvoort is a track that exposes the RB22’s weaknesses more than most.

“It depends on the tarmac sometimes, but also on the layout of the track. This one is for sure not our best layout, but we just need to work on it. We can guess on what track it might be a little bit better, but we need to try and just dial it out.”

Verstappen added that, in his view, it is not so much related to set-up, as Red Bull has tried everything in that respect: “I think we’re now simply more limited by some fundamental problems with the car that we need to solve.

“At this circuit you also have some fast corners and we’re lacking there as well. In general, if you don’t have a good balance, you can’t really attack the corners. And if you don’t have traction either, you can’t get out of the corners properly, so all of that costs time.”

It means Verstappen considers seventh place the maximum achievable result on Sunday under normal circumstances, particularly if there is no chaos caused by rain.

Without rain, Verstappen reckons that P7 will be the best he can hope for in his final home race

Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images

It may not be the Zandvoort farewell he had hoped for, although the four-time world champion stresses that the Dutch GP era as a whole has already been a great success.

“It’s absolutely the end of an era,” he said. “To have had your own home race and to have been able to win it a few times is very special. Of course, it’s a shame that it’s going away, but on the other hand, it has also given me a lot of great moments and memories.”

Whether another memorable moment will be added remains to be seen, but Verstappen took a pragmatic view in conclusion.

“I’m really only satisfied when we win, but that’s going to be very difficult tomorrow,” he said. “We’ve been a little too slow throughout this season and that’s not suddenly going to change in Zandvoort, but we’re just going to try to enjoy it one last time.”

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Will Max Verstappen ever race for Mercedes in Formula 1? This is what team principal Toto Wolff is quizzed about in his yearly media session with Dutch journalists at Zandvoort – and this time the door looks closed, though Wolff keeps it ever so slightly ajar.

F1’s history could have panned out very differently if Mercedes had beaten Red Bull to secure the youngster’s future back in 2014, as Verstappen kept winning races in Formula 3 as a single-seater rookie, but his sights were firmly set on an immediate world championship debut. That’s something only Red Bull could offer, courtesy of its second outfit.

Since then, Mercedes and Verstappen have always been rivals, but two years ago, Wolff revealed he had held talks with the then-three-time world champion. The Austrian faced the tall order of finding a worthy replacement for Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton and had already set his sights on next-generation wunderkind Kimi Antonelli, but he obviously wouldn’t have passed on the opportunity of recruiting Verstappen, had it had the slightest chance of materialising.

It didn’t, but Wolff insisted the door was not closed, when asked by Autosport if a potential move for Verstappen was still in the back of his mind: “Yes, it is. Somehow I have that feeling. But I don’t know when that could be. Whether it’s ’26, whether it’s three years later, I don’t know yet.”

Wolff again sounded out Verstappen one year later, as rookie Antonelli struggled in his maiden season, but the Red Bull racer pledged loyalty anew to the Milton Keynes-based team.

“Could that mean our paths will never cross because the timings are wrong? Well, that can happen,” Wolff pondered at the time. “But that could be 50%. The other 50% is we are racing together at a certain stage in our careers, if it is right for both sides.”

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

But by now, Wolff admits he can’t see Verstappen joining Mercedes anytime soon, after Russell and Antonelli were confirmed in the Silver Arrows for 2027 back in June, while the Dutchman’s new Red Bull deal was announced ahead of his home race – despite Verstappen currently going through his first winless campaign since 2015.

“Pretty early we felt for us that being with George and Kimi was the right decision to continue – for various reasons, but it seems that the driver line-up is just the right positive dynamic,” Wolff commented. “It allows Kimi to grow and for George to bring out his best game because he has a quick, young team-mate.

“Therefore it seemed pretty logical that Max would stay with Red Bull. Better the devil you know – that’s a punchline! – and then wait what happens in two or three years, where contracts open up again and probably his options are not just one team but maybe three or four at a time. And wait who performs the best.”

Asked by Autosport if Mercedes had had any chance at all of hiring Verstappen for 2027, Wolff explained: “Pretty early in the late spring it was clear that we would continue like we do. And we have an open and in a way most transparent relationship as we can have. So the situation, as you say, was very different to what it was last year, where both sides were exploring whether cooperation could happen or not.”

The announcement of Verstappen’s new contract ended speculation over the four-time world champion’s future, after he emerged among drivers as arguably the most critical of F1’s new regulations. Cryptic, throwaway lines about “life” decisions to make fuelled rumours amid his involvement in GT3 racing, but in the end, Red Bull’s superstar decided to keep his F1 career going.

Asked if he was surprised to see Verstappen staying longer in the series, Wolff said: “No. The more regulations mature the more the teams will catch up. And even if Red Bull at the moment is on the back foot it is clear that, give it some time, they will shine.

“They have had strong races this year, others that were not. But I have no doubt that going forward the usual suspects will be again fighting for wins and championships, whether it is Ferrari or McLaren or Red Bull or ourselves. So the decision’s in a way logical one for me.”

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