Verstappen: I’m feeling confident we can be ahead in qualifying

After topping FP1 earlier in the day, in front of a Zandvoort 'painted' Orange with t-shirts of his faithful, Verstappen was a couple of tenths down on McLaren's pace setter Lando Norris when FP2 ended. But smart money will be on Red Bull, when fully unleashed - in the Dutchman's hands - finding at least another second by the time Qualifying Q3 comes around on Saturday.

Thus no surprise the soon-to-be triple F1 World Champion savoured the first day 'back at work' for the F1 paddock. He summed up his Friday: “Today was a good day, we tried a few different things on the car. There’s a couple of things we want to fine tune like the balance, but on the whole it was handling well, even on the long runs.

"The car has a lot of potential so hopefully, we can have a good day tomorrow. I’m feeling confident that we can be ahead in qualifying. I’m looking forward to getting back in the car tomorrow. It’s fantastic to see all the orange in the grandstands and around the track, I certainly feel the support," acknowledged Verstappen in the RBR Friday report.

In the sister Red Bull, Sergio Perez was just under half a second down on Verstappen's best efforts, in FP1 as well as later in FP2, making him seventh fastest on the day.

The Mexican veteran reported afterwards: “It was a positive Friday, the grid is looking really tight out there once again. We got plenty of information and got to try all the different compounds on the high fuel which will help the Team. I think it is looking competitive so I’m looking forward to the weekend.

"We just have to keep the momentum into qualifying tomorrow and get the perfect lap together, qualify where we should and then show our race pace. Our Sunday will depend on how qualifying goes, we have a strong car and if we are where we should be we will be in a good place for the race," added Perez.

On Saturday, Verstappen aims to claim his third pole position start for his home race and thereafter a hat-trick of wins, that would make him the only winner at Zandvoort since its return to the F1 calendar.

Previously, Niki Lauda won the Dutch GP back in 1985, whereafter it fell off the schedule.