'A lot more competitive:' F1 season resumes with Dutch Grand Prix on TSN
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Formula 1 returns from its summer break this weekend with the Dutch Grand Prix, a race that Max Verstappen has dominated since it returned to the F1 schedule in 2021.
But things have been a lot tighter in the standings this season and Verstappen said he’s tempering expectations heading into the weekend.
“It looks like also there are many more teams involved that can actually win a race, so for sure I’m not coming into this weekend saying that we’re going to win the race. I just want to have a clean weekend, understand the car a bit more, learn from it,” he said Thursday at race weekend media day.
When asked if being unable to defend at his home race would be hard to accept, Verstappen reiterated that winning at Zandvoort was no longer a formality.
“We just have to wait and see where we are throughout the weekend – I also don’t know. Last year coming here I was a lot more confident that we had a good chance of winning the race, but that’s how the season is already, it’s a lot more competitive.
“From our side I think we’re still trying to improve, to find a better car balance. Hopefully we can start here to find a better balance.”
Watch Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix LIVE at 7:30am ET/4:30pm PT on TSN1, TSN5 and the TSN App, or see multiple feeds simultaneously with the TSN.ca F1 Multiplex.
Last year, Verstappen came into the Dutch GP with a 125-point lead in the driver championship. Red Bull’s lead in the constructor standings was even bigger, being 256 points up on the next closest team. But as of now, those gaps sit at 78 points and 42 points, respectively, with McLaren’s Lando Norris mounting a significant challenge.
After winning back-to-back Grand Prixs in Montreal and Barcelona, Verstappen is without a win in his last four starts, coming off a fourth-place finish at the Belgian GP before summer break.
“I don’t expect it to be like last year, but we always want to try to be better, and especially the situation we have been in in the last few races. We want to come out of that and learn a bit more from the car and be more competitive,” he said.