The reigning world champion has shut down any suggestion that Red Bull are one setup change away from rediscovering the front of the grid.

“We are the fourth-fastest team, so it’s not like walking up to Zandvoort and suddenly we can do some magic things,” Max Verstappen told reporters at the Dutch Grand Prix.

Setup changes made no difference over the weekend, and Verstappen said the issue is now structural.

“We changed quite a lot on the car after the sprint, but none of it made any difference,” Verstappen said.

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“I think we’re now simply more limited by some fundamental problems with the car that we need to solve.”

Flu-like symptoms sapped him all weekend

Off the track, Verstappen was fighting a flu-like illness that had drained him for days.

“I’ve felt better before, yes. I feel a bit flu-like and I’m just not feeling as much energy as normal.”

He insisted it did not change what he could do inside the cockpit.

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“No, I don’t think so. I think once you’re in the car, it’s actually fine.”

The crash that ended his Sunday

Rain left parts of the Zandvoort track damp for the start of Sunday’s race, and Verstappen lost the rear of his Red Bull as he picked up the throttle onto the main straight. The impact triggered the red flag on the opening racing lap.

“I got caught out, it was still quite wet in that corner,” Verstappen said.

“As soon as I saw the dry patch coming, I was like, now you can accelerate, but clearly that didn’t work, so probably it was still a bit too early.”

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He was cleared without a trip to the medical centre.

“I just asked, can I not go to the medical centre, and they were like, it’s still below the threshold.”

Antonelli leads the standings by 130 points

Kimi Antonelli, second at Zandvoort, moved to 242 points at the top of the drivers’ standings. Verstappen is sixth on 112, 130 points adrift.

Race winner Lando Norris took his second grand prix in a row for McLaren, ahead of Antonelli and George Russell.

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Verstappen’s outlook for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, which runs from 4 to 6 September, was cautious.

“I’m just looking forward to a week break where I can just recover also, because I really didn’t feel good. I wish for more, but you need to be realistic this season. Yeah, hopefully in Monza we can be a little bit more competitive.”

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