Verstappen sees first glimmer of hope after Red Bull changes following Sprint

Verstappen already indicated yesterday that they couldn’t change much for the sprint itself, so they would use the sprint race data to make a new attempt at better setting up the car for the main race qualifying. That session follows on Saturday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. Verstappen neither gained nor lost positions during Saturday’s race, but he still seems unsure whether Red Bull can improve the situation.

"We wanted to make some changes anyway, and after this race, it will stay the same. So, same thought process. So, we'll see if we can improve it a little bit," he said after the race.

On Friday afternoon he mainly pointed to grip and balance. Part of those issues is still present: "We definitely lack a little bit on pure pace, but at least the deck wasn't too bad in the race."

Ahead of the sprint, the long runs didn’t give encouraging signals either, yet the sprint turned out less disastrous than some might have expected: "I just got a bit stuck behind Oscar (Piastri) around here. As soon as you get close, your tyres overheat and you can't pass, so you're just stuck. But I think in the race we looked maybe a little bit more competitive, so that's good, but we need to find more overall performance."

During the sprint it was evident that Verstappen could stay ahead of a Ferrari and had the pace to remain close to Piastri in the McLaren. The Australian, in turn, indicated that the pace of both McLarens wasn’t all that great. The changing conditions seemed to hamper the performance of several cars, although Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc managed to pull off overtakes to move up a spot in the order.

Verstappen may have struggled for outright pace in the Zandvoort Sprint, but race pace offered some encouraging signs for Red Bull. After initially dropping away from Piastri and coming under pressure from Lewis Hamilton, the Dutchman became more competitive as the stint developed and was able to close the gap to the McLaren again.

Verstappen averaged a 1:16.293 over the 24 laps, while his tyre degradation was around three tenths better than Piastri's on the medium compound. Ferrari appeared even stronger, however, with Charles Leclerc producing the best average pace despite being stuck behind Lando Norris for several laps.

The data therefore suggests Red Bull's race pace is stronger than its single-lap performance indicated on Friday. With Parc Fermé open again before qualifying, Verstappen and the team can now make further changes in an attempt to close the remaining gap.