Max Verstappen highlighted what will be Red Bull’s biggest obstacle to returning to compete for wins in Formula 1 still in the 2026 season. The Dutchman stated that the team has already managed to take some steps with the RB22, but emphasized that reducing the gap to Mercedes and Ferrari will be the hardest part of the process.
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In the current season, the Austrian team appears, at least, as the third force on the grid. The German and Italian rivals are the top two in the championship, while the Milton Keynes team battles for position with McLaren. After the British GP, the British team occupies third place in the Constructors’ Championship with 179 points, against 128 for Red Bull. The four-time world champion is seventh among the drivers, with two podiums in nine rounds.
The team started the championship trying to reduce the weight of the RB22 and introduced an update at the Austrian GP, which helped Verstappen finish the race in second place. Even so, the Dutchman believes that the decisive stage of the recovery is still ahead.
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“There are, of course, easier steps to take. When you are far behind, the hardest step is always the last one, which is really to get back to fighting for wins. We’ll see how we can achieve that to get back into that fight,” he said.
“I’m not sure how it will be, but the team is always giving 100% and working at the limit to make the car faster. At the same time, we know that the other teams also keep bringing updates. We always need to find a bit more performance to try to reduce that gap,” he concluded.
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