ZANDVOORT, Netherlands, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Max Verstappen can give his home Dutch Grand Prix a fitting sendoff this weekend by becoming Formula One's sixth different winner in six races.
The old-school seaside circuit is slipping off the calendar after this year's race and victory on Sunday would be a bittersweet occasion for Red Bull's four-time world champion and his throngs of orange-shirted supporters.
Verstappen has come close to winning this season, with two second places including Hungary before
the August break that ended this week, and the 28-year-old has always been on the podium -- three wins and two second places -- since the track returned to the championship in 2021.
He has also led 200 of the 360 F1 laps raced at Zandvoort in his lifetime and had three poles.
"I have had so many good memories here in Zandvoort and to have been able to race in front of my home crowd for the past few years has been a privilege and one of my many highlights," said the Dutch driver, who will race with a special 'Delft blue' tribute helmet.
He will have a 'new' teammate this weekend, with Liam Lawson returning to the garage opposite after regular seat-holder Isack Hadjar was ruled out with a wrist injury. That also means a comeback for Japan's Yuki Tsunoda, taking the Kiwi's place at Racing Bulls.
DIFFERENT WINNER EVERY WEEKEND
While the season started a new era with dominant Mercedes winning six races in a row, one for George Russell and five for championship leader Kimi Antonelli, the last five have told another story with a different winner every weekend.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, Russell, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, Antonelli and McLaren's Lando Norris have been the winners and now Verstappen and McLaren's Oscar Piastri look most likely to keep the sequence running as the second half of the season kicks off with Zandvoort hosting a sprint for the first time.
Verstappen -- king of the sprints -- is sixth overall in the standings, Piastri seventh and everyone above them has won already in 2026.
Champions McLaren have won the last two Dutch Grands Prix, current champion Norris in 2024 and Piastri in 2025, and will be going for a hat-trick with the team bringing the second part of an upgrade package introduced in Hungary.
Mercedes, with Antonelli now 50 points clear of closest rival Hamilton, have not won at Zandvoort since Juan Manuel Fangio in 1955 and intend to rectify that at what will be the fifth of six sprint weekends this season.
"We have left points on the table, our rivals have reduced the performance gap, and we know the second half of the year will demand more from us than the first," said team boss Toto Wolff.
"Whilst we are slightly out of step with upgrades compared to our rivals, we have more performance to unlock and a clear development plan to do so."
For Russell it will also be a chance to put a misfiring first half of the season behind him and show why he started the campaign as title favourite.
Aston Martin's return to competitiveness should be accelerated by Honda bringing an upgraded engine after the team introduced a new chassis in Hungary, although the sprint format with only one practice session on Friday before Saturday's limited-lap race gives them little time to remove any gremlins.
Even further back on the grid, newcomers Cadillac will be under fresh scrutiny after they abruptly sacked founding principal Graeme Lowdon over the break and replaced him with Marcin Budkowski as they seek the first point of their debut season.
(Reporting by Alan BaldwinEditing by Toby Davis)
