The Sporting Director for the Dutch Grand Prix said Max Verstappen’s home race will be “awkward” while making a pessimistic prediction about his race weekend.
Max Verstappen, a four-time world champion with Red Bull, has been unsuccessful in his title defence during the 2025 season. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have run away with the Drivers’ championship, and are fighting a two-horse race for the title.
Meanwhile, Red Bull fired Christian Horner as their performance has fallen off a cliff this season. Verstappen has been able to wrestle his car to the occasional victory, but he’s not been able to consistently contend with McLaren.
Ahead of his home race at the Dutch Grand Prix, the race’s sporting director said it will be “a bit awkward” for Verstappen.
Dutch Grand Prix will be ‘awkward’ for Max Verstappen, says Jan Lammers
The Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort returned to the F1 calendar in 2022. Verstappen has won two of the three races at home, and been in contention this time around.
However, the Red Bull is not the car it was in recent seasons, which left Verstappen fighting on the lower end of the points in Hungary. This is the first time the Dutchman has entered his home race without a realistic chance of winning it.
Jan Lammers, former driver and sporting director of the Dutch Grand Prix, said that makes this year’s race “awkward”. He said to L1 Sport, “We have to adjust the expectations to reality and that is that he will not start as a favorite.
“That’s a bit awkward, because before Max always drove here for the win. Driving for the win is not realistic now and to be honest, he will still have to work hard to make it to Q3 in qualifying, but what remains is his undeniable class.”
The race is likely to be fought between title rivals Norris and Piastri, and new Red Bull Team Principal Laurent Mekies looks to get to grips with the car’s slow speed performance.
Verstappen told reporters before his home race, “Circuits with corners that you have to go through at lower or medium speed are more difficult for us.” The narrow and twisting Zandvoort is likely to give the Red Bull some issues, however hope could be on the way.
Max Verstappen hopes for ‘chaos’ as rain predicted for Dutch Grand Prix
In dry conditions, McLaren have the fastest car on the grid. That has been evident for a number of races now as the Papaya car extends its lead at the top of both the Constructors’ and Drivers’ championships.
But in the wet, anything can happen, and rain is predicted for the entire race weekend at Zandvoort. Some of Verstappen’s greatest ever performances have come in the wet, and he’s hoping that the rain causes unpredictability on Sunday.
He said, “Something may happen to the weather. That can cause chaos. We’ll see what happens.”
Verstappen knows he’s out of the title fight. “I don’t have any real goals in the championship,” were his words. But a win in front of a home crowd is always incredibly special for drivers.
Lando Norris said he’d trade every win for a win at Silverstone, and he achieved his maiden home win this season in the wet. Verstappen will now try to do the same, and take his third win in the Netherlands at the fourth time of asking.