Red Bull Racing acknowledged that it is below its own expectations in the 2026 Formula 1 season, following a difficult Friday in free practice for the Japanese GP. The assessment came from the team’s chief engineer, Paul Monaghan, who admitted that the team did not reach the level expected by itself and nor by Max Verstappen.
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The discrete performance in the first two practice sessions at Suzuka reinforced internal concerns. Verstappen finished seventh in FP1 and dropped to tenth in FP2, while Isack Hadjar was even further back, with P13 and P15 throughout Friday.
Monaghan described the day as complicated and agreed with the analysis made by Verstappen, who had described the car as ‘a bit difficult here and there’. The engineer highlighted that the team’s relative position makes the situation clear: “You just need to look at our relative position. They are not the standards we set for ourselves, nor those that Max sets for us”, he stated.
Despite the difficulties, Red Bull believes it has identified some of the RB22’s problems. According to Monaghan, the focus now is to better understand the causes and try to find solutions before the rest of the weekend: “I think we identified some things that are wrong. Now it’s a matter of confirming, understanding well and seeing if we can influence or correct for tomorrow”, he said.
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The team also brought a significant package of updates to Suzuka. The car received modifications to the sidepod inlet, engine cover and floor, changes that, according to the engineer, represent an important change in the design: “Geometrically, it’s quite a big change. So, thank you to everyone at Milton Keynes for bringing this, because it was a big effort”, he added.
Even with the updates, Red Bull still encountered difficulties in other areas of the car. Monaghan explained that some parts of the package worked as expected, but other aspects still did not show the desired behavior: “Our understanding of what happened today is that this is working, but there are other aspects of the car that are not very good, and those are the ones we need to correct for tomorrow”, he concluded.
The team’s main focus for the rest of the weekend will be to improve the car’s behavior in the fast corners of the Japanese circuit. Monaghan especially highlighted the first sector of Suzuka as a critical area, where Red Bull intends to work on the car’s balance before FP3, in an attempt to regain competitiveness for the qualifying session and the GP.
