Verstappen under pressure in front of his home crowd as F1 returns at the Dutch Grand Prix

ZANDVOORT, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch Grand Prix has generally been a party for Max Verstappen and his legions of orange-clad fans. This year could be very different.

Verstappen has won all three races at the beach-side Zandvoort track since the Dutch Grand Prix returned to the Formula 1 schedule in 2021.

For once though, home star Verstappen is under pressure in the standings. He enters the first race after the summer break without a win from any of the previous four — his longest winless run since 2020.

“Last year coming here, I was a lot more confident that we had a big chance of winning the race, but that’s how the season is already," Verstappen said Thursday. “It’s a lot more competitive and from our side I think we’re still trying to improve, trying to find a better car balance."

It will be Verstappen's 200th race and the 26-year-old Dutch driver, who has a contract with Red Bull through 2028, said he believes he's closer to the end of his F1 career than the start.

McLaren — whose team principal Andrea Stella talked up a “substantial upgrade” Friday — and Mercedes are both closing in on Verstappen and his Red Bull team, which started the year in such dominant style. Beating Verstappen at his home race would be a real statement of intent.

Mercedes and McLaren led the way in the second practice Friday as Mercedes' George Russell was fastest, 0.061 seconds ahead of McLaren's Oscar Piastri.

The second Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton was third and McLaren's Lando Norris — Verstappen's closest challenger in the standings — was fourth. Verstappen himself was fifth-fastest, 0.289 off the pace.

There was a brief red flag when Nico Hulkenberg's Haas spun into the barriers, while Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr. missed most of the session with a gearbox problem.

After a wet and windy start, Norris set the pace on a drying track in the first practice session, 0.201 seconds faster than Verstappen. Hamilton was third.

Saturday’s qualifying is also likely to be affected by rain, though the race Sunday should remain dry.

Verstappen's 78-point lead over Norris in the drivers' standings gives him some room for error, but teammate Sergio Perez's poor performances mean Red Bull's 42-point lead over McLaren in the constructors' championship could be vulnerable.

In normal circumstances, a driver who signed a contract extension two months ago wouldn't face questions about his future. Perez's prolonged slump — no podium since April, no finish higher than seventh since May — hasn't quietened the speculation.

Red Bull's broader F1 operation also seems to have five drivers for four seats across its main team and its second team, RB.

Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko told Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung that New Zealander Liam Lawson, who drove five races for RB (then called AlphaTauri) last year, would “definitely be in one of our cars next year,” in comments published Thursday.

Yuki Tsunoda has a contract with RB for 2025, but his teammate Daniel Ricciardo's status is less clear.

Another race seat for 2025 was confirmed Friday as Alpine promoted reserve driver Jack Doohan to partner Pierre Gasly next year.

George Russell thought he'd won the last race in Belgium, only to be disqualified when his car was found to be underweight. That passed the win to his teammate Hamilton.

Russell has had nearly a month to reflect on what happened and said he had “zero hard feelings” toward Mercedes and that “in my mind, that is still a win.”

Despite Mercedes' strong recent form, Russell said he thought McLaren's Norris was the only driver still with a shot of catching Verstappen in the standings, and that even that was unlikely.

“Personally I don’t see anybody catching up with with Max and Red Bull in normal circumstances," Russell said Thursday. "They have an exceptional lead. It’s just we’ve been used to crazy dominance in the last few years.”

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