Max Verstappen hands Red Bull instruction after worst Dutch qualifying

Max Verstappen has told Red Bull it needs to work to "dial out" the balance issues he is suffering from after his worst-ever home grand prix qualifying. 

The four-time world champion, who has confirmed that he is carrying an illness and suffering from the flu, secured his worst result on the Zandvoort grid with seventh, having never previously been lower than third, for the final race at the circuit.

Red Bull, despite hopes that the slow, twisty nature of the circuit would play to the strengths of the RB22, has proven to be the fourth-fastest team, behind McLaren, Mercedes, and Ferrari, with Verstappen's team-mate Liam Lawson backing him up with eighth. 

Reflecting, Verstappen explained that none of the changes Red Bull had made from the Sprint to qualifying had worked.

"It is just the same balance issues that we have every weekend, so with the big changes that we made, unfortunately, we don't really do anything to the car," Verstappen told media, including RacingNews365, before adding to Sky Sports F1 that it "didn't really allow me to push or feel comfortable."

Describing whether the issue was worse on certain tracks, Verstappen spoke how Zandvoort, with its banked corners and elevation changes, was "not the best layout" for the RB22, and that the team could "guess on what tracks it might be better, but we need to dial it out."

When then asked about if he was frustrated at not seeing the progress with the car that he did in 2025 to allow him to launch the unlikely title challenge, Verstappen rejected the idea.

"I think it's a bit different from last year," he said. "We came from dominating to suddenly dropping back, and then we came back to a very good level. 

"This is a completely different formula, and we've never nailed it yet, so it's different circumstances."

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