Max Verstappen admitted Red Bull have “no clear answer” on how to improve their pace at the Dutch Grand Prix after being outperformed by Mercedes and McLaren in Friday practice.

Verstappen leads the world championship from McLaren’s Lando Norris by 78 points with 10 rounds of the season remaining but arrives at his home race on his longest winless streak since 2020, having gone four grands prix without a victory.

The Dutchman has won on all three of his previous appearances at Zandvoort but was only able to finish fifth in second practice on Friday, with Mercedes and McLaren occupying the top four places as George Russell set the pace for the Silver Arrows.

“In 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,” Verstappen said. “A bit slow on the short run, a bit 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 slow, as simple as that.”

Verstappen appeared to be cruising towards a fourth successive drivers’ title when he won four of the first five races of the season, but since then McLaren have consistently been able to match or better Red Bull’s pace, while Mercedes won three of the final four races before the sport’s summer break.

Rain limited representative running in first practice on Friday, but after a more informative second session, Verstappen insisted he wasn’t surprised by the RB20’s lack of performance.

“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.”

Norris: Mercedes are quicker but it’s close

If Norris is going to start putting serious title pressure on Verstappen, he will want to take points away from the Red Bull driver at the Dutchman’s home event.

Norris was only 0.025s ahead of Verstappen but will be buoyed by McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri’s quick time in second practice, which was two tenths quicker.

“I am optimistic, but I have no idea whether it is working or not or how it’s performing at the minute. Today was a reasonable day and we are there or thereabouts,” said Norris.

“A bit more to find overnight and hopefully we can challenge Mercedes.”

McLaren brought their first major upgrade package to the MCL38 since May’s Miami Grand Prix, where Norris won his maiden F1 race.

The new parts include an updated front suspension, plus new front and rear corners of the car.

Both Norris and Piastri looked happy with the balance of the car but the Briton is unsure if they have the machine to beat.

Asked if he thinks McLaren are strongest, he said: “Probably not. Mercedes are quicker, it’s close. I don’t think there is a quickest. It just depends on different factors.

“We have been in good form since Miami but haven’t really brought any updates since. This weekend is our first time trying to make more progress.”

Russell and Hamilton praise Mercedes car

Russell topped second practice with Hamilton in third and only 0.111s behind his Mercedes team-mate at Zandvoort.

Mercedes have re-introduced the upgrades they brought to Spa-Francorchamps, after taking them off partway through the Belgian Grand Prix weekend.

“There is a big, big difference to last year. The car feels more alive and we are right there at the front. We understand the car so much better now,” said Hamilton.

“To start off on the right foot and make small tweaks from there is very helpful. It makes our job more enjoyable. I don’t know if [we are in the mix] for the win but at least we are in the top five.”

Russell added: “The car was performing really well.

“I had the upgrades on and they seem to work as expected. It looks to be a close battle with McLaren and Max [Verstappen]. But it could all be different on Saturday.”

Sainz: Almost like a Sprint weekend after gearbox issue

Carlos Sainz’ participation in Practice Two was limited by a gearbox issue with the Spaniard – who will join Williams from 2025 – only able to register seven laps on track.

He does not expect any further glitches this weekend but admits his team are now on the back foot at a track that is not best suited to their car set-up.

Sainz said: “It’s not ideal. We needed both cars out on track as it is one of our weakest tracks of the season given the long nature of the corners and the capability of the car still being on the weak side compared to our competitors.

“But tomorrow is FP3 and we will try out best to recover that time and get in shape for qualy and the race.

“We go into Saturday almost like a Sprint weekend with just one practice session to get us up to speed and have a good weekend.

“I am going to have to hit the ground running in FP3 and be immediately on the pace. Hopefully we can still have a good performance.

“The positive thing is that it shouldn’t affect the rest of the weekend, our gearbox pool or anything. It should be smooth.”

Sky Sports F1’s live Dutch GP schedule

Saturday August 24
9.10am: F1 Academy: Qualifying
10.15am: Dutch GP Practice Three (session starts 10.30am)
1pm: Dutch GP Qualifying build-up
2pm: DUTCH GP QUALIFYING
4pm: F1 Academy: Race One

Sunday August 25
9.40am: F1 Academy: Race Two
12:30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Dutch GP build-up
2pm: The DUTCH GRAND PRIX
4pm: Chequered Flag: Dutch GP reaction

Formula 1 returns after the summer break with the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership – No contract, cancel anytime.

Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV, streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.