Formula 1 fans already on the train to Zandvoort; Verstappen "a bit too slow"

The first Formula 1 fans made their way to Zandvoort early on Saturday morning. The drivers qualify for Sunday's race in the coastal town on Saturday.

At 7:15 a.m., some fans were already on the train from Amsterdam Centraal to Zandvoort aan Zee. Some were wearing Red Bull caps to show their support for Max Verstappen.Visitors with a ticket for the Dutch Grand Prix were allowed to enter the circuit from 8 a.m.

NS runs extra trains throughout the weekend to transport the hundreds of thousands of visitors to and from Zandvoort. By 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, over 4,500 race fans had already traveled to Zandvoort by train. "The trains are running, the atmosphere is good," said NS.

Dutch Grand Prix director Jan Lammers hopes the weather will clear up a bit for the race fans on the circuit, as it is still rainy on Saturday morning. Hundreds of visitors walk towards the circuit with ponchos and umbrellas.

Verstappen 'a bit too slow' at Zandvoort free practice sessions

Red Bull has work to do in the Dutch Grand Prix. "We are a bit too slow," said Max Verstappen after the two free practice sessions, in which he achieved the second and fifth fastest times. "A bit too slow in the short run and a bit too slow in the long run. At the moment, we don't really know how to improve this specifically. We will have to look at that."

Verstappen is aiming for a fourth consecutive victory in the Dutch Grand Prix, but he has entered a phase in which he is no longer as dominant as in the previous two seasons. The 26-year-old from Limburg has not won since the Spanish Grand Prix on June 23 and has been without a victory for four races. "The position we are in is not entirely unexpected. We also lacked speed in the past few races. So it is not a surprise, but we will do everything possible to get the car in better shape for qualifying on Saturday."

"We are not the fastest at the moment, and now we have to look for ways to change that. "We are more or less where we have been in previous races, so that's no surprise. We need to get more out of the car," Verstappen told Speedweek.

In the first practice session, McLaren's Lando Norris was slightly faster than Verstappen. After the second practice session, George Russell (Mercedes), Oscar Piastri (McLaren), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), and Norris were above him in the rankings. "In the first practice session, we couldn't drive much because of the rain, but in the second session, it cleared up, and it became clearer where we stood," said Verstappen.

There was much talk about the weather before the training sessions. Drivers such as Norris and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) expressed their concerns about the expected wind force 7 to 8. The Formula 1 cars could, therefore, get into trouble on the dune circuit. In practice, it was not so bad. The gusts of wind did affect the handling, but the drivers hardly experienced any major problems.