Max Verstappen handed 'back in the game' boost despite McLaren 'punishment'

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has given Max Verstappen a boost, saying that the Austrian outfit is "back in the game," although still facing a "punishing" pace deficit compared to McLaren.

The Milton Keynes-based squad heads into this weekend's Dutch Grand Prix following a disastrous outing in Hungary before the summer break, where Red Bull found itself in the midfield.

Verstappen had to use all his skill just to make it to Q3 at the Hungaroring, while Yuki Tsunoda suffered another Q1 exit.

F1's summer break offered Red Bull the opportunity to take a closer look at the issues it faced in Hungary to determine whether the problems were circuit-specific or not.

After the three practice sessions in Zandvoort, Mekies is confident that the faults with the RB21 were limited to the Hungaroring, with Red Bull back in podium contention this weekend.

Verstappen ended third practice fifth on the timesheets, four-tenths ahead of Tsunoda in 12th.

However, the Frenchman acknowledges that McLaren holds a significant pace advantage, which could diminish Verstappen’s hopes of securing a fourth home win.

Speaking to Sky F1, Mekies was asked if the team's Hungary problems are now an ongoing issue, saying: "You're right, Budapest was an outstandingly low performance for us, [that's] clear. 

"We tried many, many things that weekend but as you said, not many things seemed to have worked. 

"I think the key question then was, is Budapest a one off, or is it an even bigger worry now? And I think now we understand that it's probably something that is very much linked with what we've done there at the track [in Hungary]. 

"Here, Zandvoort, similar track characteristic to Budapest. And even though we are nowhere near fast enough to compete the McLaren, we are back in the game, in being in that group, behind the McLarens, far away. 

"The lap time [deficit] is quite punishing, from what you can see in FP3, but we are there trying to get that P3 slot against the best Mercedes, the best Ferrari and perhaps a few other guys."