Max Verstappen suffers nightmare start to his home Dutch Grand Prix as he is forced to…

Max Verstappen has suffered a blow ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix, after he stopped out on track during first practice with a gearbox issue.

The Dutchman who leads the championship by 93 points was told by his Red Bull team to stop his car and get out just ten minutes into the first session at Zandvoort.

It is a nightmare start to the weekend for Verstappen who is hoping to repeat the success of his victory on home soil in 2021.

‘Something went with the gearbox,’ the Dutchman reported, leaving his orange-clad supporters stunned into silence.

Smoke was seen coming out of the front of his Red Bull as he stopped, and the 24-year-old waved to his home crowd before going back to the garage to discuss the fault with his team members.

The reliability of Verstappen’s Red Bull has been almost flawless since his early season mechanical retirements at both the Bahrain and Australian Grand Prix.

Since then he has finished on the podium in every race, except for the British Grand Prix where he ran over some debris which slowed his pace.

After a ferocious battle to the title last season involving Lewis Hamilton, this season has been a more comfortable procession so far, with nearest rivals Ferrari throwing away big points throughout the season.

Max Verstappen suffers nightmare start to his home Dutch Grand Prix as he is forced to…

If the Dutchman is able to bounce back from this early setback at Zandvoort and take victory, it will be his tenth of the season – one more than he was able to manage in 2021.

Verstappen is expected to be back out on track for second practice which gets underway this afternoon.

The action was suspended for nine minutes as Verstappen’s wounded machine was towed away.

His gearbox issue in FP1 shouldn’t mean he will need to face a grid penalty for Sunday’s race.

More than 300,000 fans are expected at Zandvoort this weekend, the majority of which, will be hoping for nothing less than a Verstappen victory.

FP1 was topped by Mercedes drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, while Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari and the McLaren’s of Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the top five.

Sergio Perez ran off the road at Turn 9 and, while he was able to continue, the Mexican finished only seventh – a full second back and behind the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

Fernando Alonso, who called Hamilton an ‘idiot’ at the last round after their collision in Belgium before apologising to the British driver on Thursday, was eighth, ahead of both Aston Martins.

Alonso is leaving Alpine to join Aston Martin next year, replacing Sebastian Vettel.

Vettel, who is retiring at the end of the campaign, impeded Norris in the closing moments. The incident atTurn 12 has been noted by the stewards.