Max Verstappen has admitted that even reaching the top five in the Dutch Grand Prix will be a tough ask, having endured a difficult Friday at his home event.<\/p>\n
The four-time and reigning World Champion failed to challenge practice pacesetter Lando Norris<\/a> on Friday at a Zandvoort Circuit where he has won three times in the last four years.<\/p>\n Verstappen<\/a> finished the opening practice <\/a>session sixth, nearly a second off Norris’ pace, and even found himself in the gravel at Turn 1 after the chequered flag having locked-up following a practice start.<\/p>\n With his RB21 recovered after becoming stuck in the gravel, Verstappen would finish FP2 in fifth<\/a> but still six-tenths away from Norris’ McLaren.<\/p>\n “I think it will be hard enough to be in that top five it looks like,” said Verstappen.<\/p>\n “Still struggling with the same things and again we tried a lot of things with the car but it just doesn’t really seem to change anything in terms of my underlying problem.<\/p>\n “We’ll look over night to find a bit more but I’m not going to expect a massive turnaround. It’s just tricky, plus the layout of the track also probably doesn’t suit our problems that we have with the car.”<\/p>\n Red Bull team mate Yuki Tsunoda<\/a> was closer to Verstappen on Friday, finishing 16th and seventh across both one-hour sessions having suffered a small off in FP1 through Turn 12.<\/p>\n