Mercedes, with “nothing to lose”, predicted to “factor” in the Dutch Grand Prix

Christian Horner reckons Mercedes will be a factor in the Dutch Grand Prix, the Red Bull team boss believing they have the pace to fight for the race win.

Max Verstappen will start the Zandvoort race from pole position, the Dutchman having outqualified the Ferrari drivers.

Mercedes, though, were not far off the pace with Lewis Hamilton qualifying P4, a position Toto Wolff says would have been better had it not been for Sergio Perez’s yellow flag for a spin.

And with at least one Mercedes driver, if not both, having been faster than Verstappen in the practice sessions, Horner warns they could be in the fight for the win on Sunday.

“I think we would have counted Mercedes among the contenders at this track anyway, just like in Budapest,” Horner told Sky Sports F1.

“They will be competitive, they have got it right in terms of tyre wear.

“They will be a factor and they have nothing to lose. It’s an extra factor for an exciting race.”

But it is not just Mercedes that Red Bull will have to keep an eye on, there is also Ferrari.

Charles Leclerc finished qualifying 0.021 down on Verstappen after a mistake at Turn 10 on his final hot lap. He was, however, fastest of all on Friday afternoon and again in Saturday’s final practice.

“If you look at the theoretical possibilities, Charles was a fraction faster than Max – it seems he made a mistake on his last lap and Max did it perfectly. That was the difference,” Horner added.

“It’s a shame Checo (Perez) couldn’t finish his lap, he was also improving and could have been on the second row. It’s still fifth in his fight with Charles and Carlos. He can fight.”

Hamilton believes this Sunday could yet be Mercedes’ day as the team chase their first win of the championship.

“We are close and I hope we can fight these guys in the race,” said the seven-time former World Champion.

“It’s a difficult race to overtake in, as we’ve seen in the past, but we’ve nothing to lose. We’ve got to give it everything.

“If our single lap to race pace delta we normally have transfers over, we could be in a good place and then it’s down to the strategy and those sorts of things.

“I don’t think it will be overtaking on track necessarily, but I’ll just keep my hopes up and we’ll see what I do.”

Verstappen lines up on the grid 93 points to the good in the Drivers’ Championship with Perez P2.

“In terms of the championship it looks good, but we are not really looking at it,” said Horner. “We are looking at it race by race and it’s a matter of maximising every session. Then the standings will come naturally.”