Delft blue and 4 gold stars: The kit Verstappen wears for his last home race

Look down, not up. The story of Max Verstappen’s final Dutch Grand Prix isn’t written on the timing screens this weekend, it’s painted on his helmet and, more quietly, on his boots. This year’s race highlights the significance of Delft blue and 4 gold stars.

Four titles in Dutch porcelain

Verstappen arrives at the last Zandvoort race in a helmet finished in Delft blue: the white-and-cobalt pattern of Dutch pottery, wrapped around the Red Bull crest. The same motif runs across his boots, and there, above the flowers, sit four small gold stars. Twenty-one. Twenty-two. Twenty-three. Twenty-four. Four world championships, stitched into a piece of Dutch craft, worn on the last Sunday his home crowd will ever have. This iconic design represents both his heritage and triumph, symbolised by Delft blue and 4 gold stars.

It is not the first time he has raced in Delft blue at Zandvoort. It is, however, the last.

Seventh on the grid, and not at his best

The circumstances make the send-off less romantic than the design suggests. Verstappen qualified seventh on Saturday afternoon, four rows behind Lando Norris, who took the final pole position ever awarded at Zandvoort ahead of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli. He also arrives at Sunday not fully fit, he isn’t at 100% this weekend, and lines up anyway.

Row four is a long way from the front at a circuit where overtaking has always been hard work. But Zandvoort has produced stranger Sundays, and the banking at Turn 3 has a habit of rewarding the driver willing to commit.

One last Sunday in the dunes

Lights out is at 15:00 CEST. After that, the Dutch Grand Prix leaves the Formula 1 calendar, the grandstands come down, and the dunes go quiet.

Which makes what happens between now and then worth marking. We’re collecting messages from fans on our Instagram leave one there, and we’ll put the best up in our stories before the start. @rntmotorsports