– At the Formula 1 summer break 2026, Max Verstappen is 110 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli. Last season, Verstappen started a spectacular comeback from Zandvoort and stood on the podium in every Grand Prix of the second half of the season. This time, however, he does not expect a similar scenario at all.
Read more DS-Penske farewell in style: First Formula E win for Taylor Barnard!
Red Bull’s problems are more complex a year later. The team started the season with a significant deficit, which was expected, but for different reasons. Before the season, their own power unit was the biggest question mark, but the DM01 engine proved surprisingly competitive.
On the chassis side, however, the deficits were greater. Considering also the overweight of the RB22, it becomes clear why Red Bull was more than 1.3 seconds behind in pure race pace in Australia and China according to Paceteq’s figures.
In Belgium and Hungary, the gap had shrunk to two tenths of a second per lap. However, Verstappen believes these numbers do not tell the whole story. In Budapest, the Dutchman said that apparently every weekend a new problem arises at Red Bull.
Earlier, he had jokingly said that all the setbacks this year would make him spend the winter break as a Buddha in Tibet. More seriously, Verstappen added that Red Bull must get this kind of problems under control.
This became particularly clear after he experienced a situation in Hungary that he described as “car degradation”: The car got worse over the course of the weekend and even within a session.
Photo gallery: Mid-season reports: The best Formula 1 drivers at the summer break
“First, we need to find more overall performance. Then we have to fix our problems where we sometimes just lose performance over a weekend – or even from the start to the end of a race,” Verstappen reveals.
“So that is actually a big priority,” says the Dutchman, who about the first half of the season says: “Overall it was very tough. There were some good moments and, I think, some bright and shining moments. Overall, however, it was difficult.”
“That’s why we have to try to be more consistent and a bit more versatile to experience more uncomplicated weekends. Also, we need to find more performance,” he demands. “At the end of the day, it’s that simple. Besides looking for more performance, it’s also about avoiding these problems with the current package.”
Read more MotoGP is becoming more global: Why Europe is likely to lose races in the future
Wache names two weaknesses of the RB22
While Verstappen emphasizes that Red Bull must prevent negative surprises, technical director Pierre Wache admits that the RB22 also has several specific problems that both drivers have complained about.
“As with every racing car, you see certain limitations in how the drivers can use the car – regarding its downforce and the characteristics that can be changed and realigned in terms of balance,” says Wache.
“We clearly have some limitations, like every racing car, namely in stability at corner entry and understeer in the middle of the corner. We try to avoid these aspects by using mechanical aids,” he says.
It is well known that Verstappen does not like understeer in the middle of the corner at all. The feedback from both Red Bull drivers is quite similar in this regard. Isack Hadjar also emphasizes: “The stability at corner entry must be solved, then we can improve the rest.”
Did this strategic error cost Verstappen his first win of the season?
Despite these problems, Red Bull has made significant progress since the difficult start of the season. Wache comes to the same conclusion when evaluating the painful first race weekends of 2026.
“Regarding the problems with the car at the beginning, we clearly lacked downforce compared to some other teams. We also had some mechanical difficulties with the car, so the driver did not feel the car through the steering. We corrected that at the start.”
- DTMAfter the Grasser case: Engines from Preining, Engel, and Wittmann collected!
- Formula 1Formula 1 engine: Can McLaren really follow Red Bull’s path?
- IndyCarIndyCar Markham 2026: Mick Schumacher retires after accident
- DTM“An outrage going on here”: Thiim attacks DTM and AMG
“It took a little while, but these problems came in addition to the general performance deficit and the potential of the car. So we had difficulties with the drivers’ feeling – that’s no secret,” says Wache.
Read more After the Grasser case: Engines from Preining, Engel, and Wittmann collected!
