Red Bull is struggling, and this is the most evident takeaway from the first three rounds of the 2026 Formula 1 world championship. Several components of the car are not working as expected, and the technical direction taken by the team seems far from correct. Today we take a deep and structured look at the situation, keeping in mind that, at least for now, there is still time to turn the season around.
Red Bull: innovative solutions that are not delivering
Red Bull has lost its wings. Max Verstappen is living proof that the RB22 remains a difficult car to understand and extremely complicated to drive. Is the project fundamentally wrong? It is difficult to say after only three races, although it is already clear that the opening phase of the championship does not look promising. The only positive note concerns the in-house power unit, which is performing significantly better than expected, especially in terms of the internal combustion engine.
At the beginning of the season, several innovative aerodynamic solutions on the Austrian car had impressed observers. The first element, the fences positioned at the entrance of the floor, works as a flow separator and operates in synergy with the chassis keel. The remaining elements are designed to increase the airflow entering underneath the car.
There is also an interesting detail on the wheel corner area, inspired by Mercedes: an aerodynamic appendage that redirects the airflow outward, increasing mass flow expansion. However, all these solutions have not delivered the expected results. On the contrary, the car has shown an at times incomprehensible behaviour that has seriously put Verstappen under pressure.
RB22: Suzuka disappointment hurts
In this sense, one image from the Suzuka garage is particularly symbolic. Max Verstappen was seen closely inspecting the RB22, searching for any possible clue, any detail to latch onto. It was a clear attempt to find inspiration or a suggestion to pass directly to the engineers, hoping it could point the team towards a more competitive direction. Instead, nothing emerged: Red Bull is clearly lost and does not know how to react.
However, the most difficult issue to accept is the complete lack of effectiveness of the major upgrade package introduced by the team led by Pierre Waché for the home Grand Prix. A major setback for the organisation. Over the 300 kilometres of race distance, we saw two very different RB22 configurations, with the four-time world champion tasked with testing the most significant new components.
A large development effort at the factory has not translated into the step forward that the Austrian team’s engineers had expected on track. This is clearly reflected in the performance of Hadjar, who outperformed his much more experienced teammate in qualifying and also showed a more stable car on track. In short, this is a heavy failure that Red Bull must carefully analyse.
RB22: the Suzuka upgrade package
Looking at the RB22 upgrades, we can see that the new aerodynamic approach follows a McLaren MCL40-style philosophy: the sidepod inlets are now less generous in size. However, this is not the most significant change. The real redesign concerns the overall shape of the sidepods, where the team has used radiator packaging in a way that is almost the opposite of the original concept.
The floor has also undergone a major redesign in the area close to the rear wheels, a highly sensitive zone where managing airflow towards the diffuser is always extremely complex. The goal is to seal the floor and efficiently guide the airflow to the diffuser while maintaining the highest possible level of aerodynamic cleanliness.
The technical team led by the French engineer from Auchel has clearly taken a wrong step. Building on the experience gained with previous ground-effect cars, Red Bull had managed to recover ground against McLaren and even come close to a championship with Verstappen in previous seasons. That felt like real engineering magic. Now, however, that spell seems broken, leaving only confusion.
On a more positive note, the power unit remains a strong point. The engine is performing well, certainly better than Ferrari’s internal combustion unit at this stage. Recruiting around 200 engineers from Honda more than three years ago proved to be a smart strategic decision. It is not yet on Mercedes’ level, but it is very close, which is why it will not receive FIA derogation via the ADUO system, unlike Ferrari.
Red Bull: the lost anti-dive philosophy of Newey
Given all these indicators, the root of the problem may lie in the chassis itself. Running two different aerodynamic philosophies on the same car, without gaining any clear advantage, raises serious questions about the fundamental concept of the RB22: from pure mechanical design to weight distribution and suspension geometry. It is a complex puzzle with no easy solution.
One particularly interesting detail emerges here. Red Bull, which under Adrian Newey had always pushed the anti-dive concept at the front suspension to its limits since the beginning of the ground-effect era (later becoming a reference for all rivals), has surprisingly taken a step backwards. If we compare technical illustrations by Giorgio Piola with last season’s car, the difference becomes clear.
The RB22 features a much more conventional suspension kinematic layout that does not fully exploit anti-dive effects. Even the cooling system has been significantly revised: alongside changes to the sidepod inlets, which now feature a larger cross-section, the central rear airflow exit has also been redesigned and enlarged.
Red Bull: possible solutions to fix the RB22
Finally, two more technical aspects deserve attention: wheelbase and weight distribution. On the McLaren MCL40, the extreme reduction of the wheelbase compared to rivals was immediately obvious, making it about 15 centimetres shorter than the Ferrari SF-26. In Red Bull’s case, the situation is less clear, with no precise confirmation available.
Looking at the car’s structure, it appears that Milton Keynes engineers may also have shortened the distance between the front axle and the cockpit, while still respecting the 340 cm regulatory limit. This reduction is estimated at around 2 cm. Then there is the issue of weight distribution, where the team is considering adjustments to the car’s balance, an extremely complex operation.
One potential solution would involve moving the suspension wishbones forward. Alternatively, a shorter transmission spacer could be used, but this would be a drastic solution requiring a complete redesign of the rear end, including bodywork and floor. As one can easily imagine, such a change would further disrupt the overall package and introduce even more complexity into an already unstable project.
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