Max Verstappen labelled the Red Bull RB22 “undriveable” after a disappointing Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying session ended with sixth place and a spin on his final attempt. The Dutch driver reported a severe loss of rear aerodynamic stability and warned that Red Bull is struggling to understand why different problems continue to emerge from one race weekend to the next.
Verstappen did not attempt to hide the scale of Red Bull’s difficulties at the Hungaroring. After losing control on the approach to the final corner, he explained that the car had become progressively harder to drive throughout qualifying, with an unpredictable rear end preventing him from building confidence or consistently extracting lap time.
Max Verstappen calls Red Bull RB22 undriveable in Hungary
Red Bull had hoped that the Hungaroring’s high number of corners might help the RB22 rediscover some competitiveness, as had been the case in Canada and Monaco. However, those circuits presented a different tyre challenge, with drivers struggling to generate sufficient temperature.
In Budapest, the difficulty was the opposite: keeping the tyres under control, particularly during the final section of the lap. Combined with the RB22’s lack of downforce and stability, that made it increasingly difficult for Verstappen to complete a clean qualifying run.
“The weekend has been difficult in general, but when it is your car degrading rather than the tyres, you have a major problem. And that is what is happening,” Max Verstappen said after qualifying.
“The car kept getting worse lap after lap, so the more laps I completed, the harder it became to put together a good time. We need to sort the situation out for tomorrow because the car is not driveable like this. You can see it at the final corner: you turn in, but the rear basically does not exist. It is honestly absurd.”
Rear aerodynamic losses caused Verstappen’s spin
The data indicated that Verstappen was suffering aerodynamic losses at the rear of the RB22 during corner entry. As well as reducing his confidence, the problem made the behaviour of the rear axle unpredictable.
Under those conditions, the rear of the car could suddenly break away even at medium speeds, as demonstrated by Verstappen’s spin at the end of qualifying. Yet identifying the exact cause appears to be considerably more complicated than recognising the symptoms.
What concerns Verstappen is that Red Bull does not appear to be encountering the same recurring weakness at every circuit. Instead, a different issue seems to emerge each weekend, making it more difficult for the engineers to trace the problems back to their origins.
At the Hungaroring, Red Bull attempted to give Verstappen more rear support by removing some load from the front of the car. However, that immediately triggered understeer.
The more understeer the car produces, the more the front tyre temperatures rise and the harder it becomes to rotate the car. If the rear begins to move instead, the driver risks losing significant performance both in traction zones and through longer corners. According to Verstappen, the combination of those limitations made the RB22 impossible to drive properly.
Verstappen fears Red Bull has reached its development limit
“First, we need to understand our problems because we have so many unexplained issues that keep emerging,” Max Verstappen said. “We need to solve that before we can even start thinking about having a normal qualifying session or anything else.”
“I would not say the car was worse than usual. We have already had a very difficult car in the past.”
Verstappen believes Red Bull has fallen back behind the three leading teams in Hungary, leaving the four-time world champion facing an increasingly difficult competitive situation.
“I think we have gone back to being the fourth force this weekend. It is not pleasant at all. We keep changing things on the car, but it does not really seem to make any difference. It feels as though we are reaching the limit of the package.”
The assessment is particularly significant for a team attempting to protect its position in the Formula 1 championship standings. Red Bull’s difficulties could also place additional pressure on the team’s longer-term driver structure, with Isack Hadjar emerging as an increasingly important figure within Red Bull.
Red Bull unable to find the RB22 tyre window
The balance problems and aerodynamic limitations made it even harder for Red Bull to place the tyres inside their correct operating window. The issue became particularly damaging over a single qualifying lap, after Friday’s running had already shown that the RB22 lacked a stable aerodynamic platform.
“Well, it is practically impossible,” Verstappen admitted. “This weekend has been very difficult and qualifying was simply hopeless. There was absolutely nothing that could be done.”
When asked whether Red Bull’s recurring and seemingly unrelated problems had left him feeling desperate, Verstappen delivered perhaps his most revealing response of the day. By his own admission, he has already moved beyond that stage.
“No, no, desperate? That word no longer exists for me. I am already beyond that stage. Let’s forget about it and try again tomorrow.”
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