– According to Technical Director Pierre Wache, Red Bull doesn’t have very good chances at the Hungarian Grand Prix. He said they are “clearly too slow” at the Hungaroring and continue to struggle with the car’s balance. “We still have a lot of work to do,” said Wache. “We are not where we should be, and not where we want to be.”
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While Max Verstappen was more than four tenths of a second off the best time in the first free practice, it was almost seven tenths of a second at the end of FP2. Isack Hadjar was even over a second behind leader Lewis Hamilton’s time in the afternoon.
The Milton Keynes team actually wanted to attack again at the last race before the summer break. After all, team boss Laurent Mekies had announced after the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa-Francorchamps that they would now be able to fight for the podium at every race weekend.
F1: Hungarian Grand Prix (Budapest) 2026
And the problems that the Red Bulls have with the electrical component of the power unit should not be nearly as significant on the “Monaco without guardrails” as they are on the Ardennes rollercoaster.
However, Red Bull is struggling with familiar problems in Hungary. The RB22 has to be driven with a rather stiff set-up and tends to have inconsistent balance. Kerbs and bumps are also anything but an easy task for the single-seater.
“This has been one of the toughest Fridays of the season so far,” said Hadjar after FP2. “The conditions were difficult and it was very, very bumpy [on the track]. That’s very demanding for the tires and for the brakes.”
Hadjar also emphasized: “We took a step back in terms of car feel in FP2. I think we had a better car overall in FP1.”
However, Hadjar also mentioned: “The long-run pace looked good, but we’re missing some [pace] on a fast lap.”
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This is contradicted by the data analysis of our editor Kevin Herrmann. Hadjar lost an average of 0.79 seconds per lap to Kimi Antonelli in the Mercedes. Verstappen, for his part, lost 0.82 seconds per lap to the championship leader. Wache is not surprised that, in addition to the Silver Arrows, Ferrari is also at the top.
“We expected that,” said the technical director. “We knew they would be the fastest here in some corners, and that they would have an advantage especially on one lap. We’ll see what they can show in the long run. But yes, they have the best car here.”
In addition to the fundamental characteristics of the RB22 or the bumps, the wind also causes headaches for Red Bull. “With everything we change [on the set-up], we have to consider the wind,” said Hadjar.
Depending on the wind speed the teams have to contend with at the Hungaroring, the car’s set-up must be adjusted. Strong gusts of wind, in particular, are a big problem on the track.
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Verstappen also had completely different problems on Friday. Once again, the four-time world champion’s seat was a topic of discussion. In addition, Verstappen complained, as he did in Spa-Francorchamps, about the gear changes of the RB22. Consequently, Red Bull must also address these issues, although both problems are far from unsolvable according to Wache.
At least the comeback of the Macarena wing caused no complaints. “Currently,” said Wache, “[the wing] is functioning correctly.”
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