Despite a strong second place in Hungary, Max Verstappen believes that Red Bull must urgently solve a major problem that has been holding back the RB22 since the start of the season.
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While Max Verstappen managed to save a valuable second place at the Hungarian Grand Prix, the four-time world champion does not hide the fact that Red Bull is going through a difficult period. Behind this good result lies a car still very difficult to exploit, whose performance fluctuates greatly over the course of the same weekend.
Before the summer break, the Dutchman identified the main task for his team: to regain consistency with the RB22.
A car losing performance
According to Verstappen, Red Bull is not only suffering from a deficit in raw performance compared to Mercedes, Ferrari, or McLaren. The most worrying issue is how the car seems to lose efficiency over the sessions.
“We first need to find more overall performance”, explained the Red Bull driver. “Then, we need to solve our problems, because sometimes we lose performance during a weekend, even between the start and the end of a race. This is an important priority.”
This inconsistency greatly complicates the work of engineers and drivers, who struggle to understand why the RB22 changes its behavior so much from one session to another.
A frustrating qualifying in Hungary
The problem was particularly evident during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Verstappen then mentioned a surprising “ car degradation”, rather than just tire degradation. Lap after lap, he felt that his car was becoming less and less competitive.
“With every lap in qualifying, the car was getting worse and worse”, he summarized.
This loss of performance resulted in a spin during his final attempt in Q3, with the driver explaining that the rear of the RB22 completely disappeared when trying to turn the car into the corner.
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Forced to start from sixth place on the grid, Verstappen ultimately managed to limit the damage by climbing back to second position behind Lando Norris.
Red Bull also penalized on the engine
Beyond the chassis, Verstappen also mentioned the particular situation of Red Bull regarding the engine.
With the 2026 regulations, the FIA introduced the ADUO (Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities), which allows the less competitive engine manufacturers to benefit from more development opportunities to reduce their gap.
Paradoxically, Red Bull Powertrains was considered by the FIA as the reference engine manufacturer. As a result, the Austrian team cannot take advantage of these regulatory benefits, even though it still lacks overall performance compared to its main rivals.
The Dutchman also admitted that he wouldn’t mind a little help.
“Regarding the engine, I would like to have some ADUO too… somehow. We will see after the break what can be done.”
A second half of the season under pressure
Fourth in the constructors’ championship with 177 points, Red Bull now has a significant gap behind Mercedes, Ferrari, and McLaren.
While Verstappen continues to achieve solid results thanks to his talent, he believes that this will not be enough in the long run. To get back on the path to victory, Red Bull will need not only to gain in pure performance but especially to make the RB22 much more predictable and consistent throughout a Grand Prix weekend.
This is the point on which the team will focus a large part of its efforts during the summer break, with the goal of returning more competitive as soon as the championship resumes at Zandvoort.
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