Max Verstappen expecting 'CHAOS' at Dutch Grand Prix

Max Verstappen is expecting a chaotic Dutch Grand Prix weekend, with rain forecast at various points.

The first session of the weekend was dry, but not entirely uneventful. Rookie Kimi Antonelli brought out an early red flag when he ran off the track and became stuck in the gravel trap, with Verstappen himself giving his Red Bull a brief beach holiday at the end of the hour's practice.

Zandvoort is one of the tracks which, like Spa, has a higher chance of rain impacting the race weekend than most – and the local hero admitted that he's hoping the atmospheric conditions can help drag him to competitiveness.

Last time out in Hungary, before the summer break, Verstappen and Red Bull struggled in both qualifying and the race, being outdone by a number of their rivals and not finishing above eighth in any of the three qualifying periods.

Verstappen: New cars not ideal for wet conditions

Asked if he was hoping for a better weekend than in Budapest, he said: “I would hope so! That was not a great weekend for us, so I hope that we can be closer. I don't think this is going to be our best track in the remainder of the calendar, but then again, there might be some weather coming in as well. So that always creates a bit of chaos, so we just need to see what happens.”

His performance was limited in Spa due to race control's decision to wait until the track was near dry, while he and his team had set up for a wet race, leading to a journalist asking if there was any point running a wet setup even if rain was expected.

"That’s very hard to judge indeed," Verstappen conceded, speaking to media including GPFans at Zandvoort. "In Spa they were extremely cautious, because with the layout of the track you can’t see everything clearly everywhere.

"There are a few spots where, if a car stops and you can’t see, you could have a huge crash. But it’s hard to say if it will be much different here. I can’t judge that. I can’t look into the heads of the race directors.”

He continued: “It’s not really the tyres, but the spray from the cars. It’s a combination of things. The cars we have now create a lot of spray, which isn’t ideal. Whether the new cars will improve that, I don’t know. That’s very hard to say.”

F1 HEADLINES: Verstappen gives up Red Bull fight as FIA confirm Dutch GP punishment

F1 QUALIFYING RESULTS: Lando Norris has pole snatched off him in late drama at Dutch GP

READ MORE: Mercedes cut ties with race-winning driver for 2026

F1 COMMENTATORS: Meet the Sky Sports and Channel 4 teams including Martin Brundle, Naomi Schiff and Danica Patrick