Verstappen looks to home race to end his losing streak

ZANDVOORT, the Netherlands — Max Verstappen has won every Dutch Grand Prix from pole position since his home race returned to the Formula One calendar in 2021, but Red Bull's triple world champion faces a tough test this weekend.

Zandvoort has become a seaside party for Verstappen's revved-up Orange Army, but this time the 26-year-old is on his longest losing streak in four years.

Mercedes has won three of the last four races and Verstappen, who leads by 78 points with 10 rounds remaining, has not stood on top of the podium since Spain on June 23.

In fact, he has had only one podium appearance since Barcelona.

Sunday will be Verstappen's 200th start in Formula One, making him the youngest driver to reach that milestone at 26 years and 330 days, and the only F1 winner at Zandvoort in his own lifetime wants to make it even more memorable.

"It is always a fantastic atmosphere, and the fans are incredible, so it is a special one for me," he said, declaring himself refreshed and ready for the second half of the season after the August break.

"We are looking forward to the week ahead, and hopefully we can be fighting for the win."

Mexican teammate Sergio Perez, the only driver from the top four teams yet to win this season, has a new race engineer, with regular Hugh Bird going on paternity leave and Richard Wood standing in.

"I know what we can extract from the car in the coming weeks, and we will do our best to maximize the second half of 2024," said Perez, whose poor form has put Red Bull at risk in the constructors' standings.

McLaren is only 42 points adrift with Australian Oscar Piastri taking a win and two seconds from his last four races while British teammate Lando Norris remains second overall, despite some costly mistakes.

Hamilton revival

Mercedes' seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has won two of the last three, after teammate George Russell was disqualified from first in Belgium just before the break.

The 39-year-old Ferrari-bound Briton has scored more points than any driver in the last four races, but is 127 behind Verstappen.

"We know we have ground to make up. We are not yet able to compete for victories at every Grand Prix," team boss Toto Wolff cautioned.

"We have made good steps in improving the W15's weaknesses though, and will continue to work hard to take more. If we can do so, then we will close the gap to those ahead in both championships."

Ferrari's campaign may be firing up again too, with Monaco winner Charles Leclerc on pole again in Belgium and finishing third after fourth place in Hungary.

With a home race at Monza immediately after Zandvoort, the Ferrari fans will be looking for positive signs.

Further back, Renault-owned Alpine will mark a year since its last podium appearance, and a new team boss — Oliver Oakes — will make his debut as replacement for Bruno Famin.

Wins

Seven-time world champion Hamilton has a record 105 career victories from 346 starts. Four teams — Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes — have won a race this season, the most since 2021 when Red Bull, Mercedes, Alpine and McLaren chalked up victories. Seven different drivers have triumphed, the most in a single season since 2012, when there were eight.

Red Bull has gone four races without a win.

Mercedes has won three of the last four.

Verstappen has won 61 grands prix and is third on the all-time list. Michael Schumacher is second on 91 wins.

Pole position

Hamilton has a record 104 career poles, his most recent being in Hungary in July 2023.

Verstappen has had eight poles so far this year. That includes the first seven of the season, equaling Alain Prost's 1993 record, and eight in a row, including the last race of 2023 — equaling Ayrton Senna's 1988-89 record.

Leclerc took pole in Monaco and Belgium, Russell was fastest in Canada and Britain. Norris took the top spot in Spain and Hungary.

Podiums

Verstappen has 107 career podiums, Hamilton a record 201.

Verstappen has been on the podium nine times this season, Norris eight, Leclerc six and Spain's Carlos Sainz Jr five times.

Reuters