Max Verstappen spies potential Red Bull strength despite F1 rivals 'driving off'

Max Verstappen believes Red Bull could hold an advantage over F1 rivals on tyre degradation, despite them "driving off" in the Dutch Grand Prix Sprint. 

Verstappen finished sixth in the Zandvoort Sprint, having not been able to latch onto the breakaway leading quartet of George Russell, Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, and Kimi Antonelli, instead becoming bottled up behind Oscar Piastri and battling Lewis Hamilton. 

As the 24-lap race unfolded, Verstappen closed in on Piastri, but could not pass, although he spotted a potential advantage for his RB22 machine over the longer runs, with the grand prix itself set for 72 laps.

"I mean, we already had those things planned," Verstappen said of the changes he and Red Bull intend to make before qualifying.

"So the Sprint was basically just to complete the laps and then make the changes now with the car. I think over one lap it was quite clear that I couldn't keep up the first two laps on the tyres, and they basically drove off.

"But once the tyre degradation started to kick in, it was a little bit better. I would say probably a little bit more competitive compared to the top cars, so that was promising, maybe.

"I got stuck a bit behind Oscar, was struggling a lot with the rear. So yeah, we will make some changes. I hope that it will help the overall performance of the car, and then we'll see if we can close the gap a little bit."