Red Bull 'must solve' balance issue before qualifying - Verstappen

Max Verstappen has conceded Red Bull "must solve" balance issues after finishing second fastest on the opening day of the Dutch Grand Prix weekend.

After finishing top of first practice, home hero Verstappen was pipped by McLaren driver Lando Norris in FP2 by only 0.023secs at Zandvoort.

Verstappen's best effort was littered with oversteer snaps, not least out of the banked Turn 3, which would have been the difference between first and second.

But the runaway championship leader remains the favourite for pole position and victory given his dominance over the field so far this term as he hunts for a ninth consecutive race victory.

Fine-tune

"The second free practice was a little more difficult. It's just hard to have a free lap," said Verstappen.

"There are a few things we want to improve but in the long run the car didn't go wrong and overall it was a good day. I wasn't quite happy with the balance in the corners but that's something we have to solve.

"For qualifying I think we will be fine. The car has a lot of potential and with that, we should have a good day [on Saturday], we just need to fine-tune a few things and then I am almost sure we will be there.