Max Verstappen has explained why Red Bull’s remarkable 2026 Formula 1 comeback is fundamentally different from the team’s late-season recovery in 2025. After returning to winning form in Malaysia and Singapore, the Dutch driver believes the decisive factor this year has been the introduction of crucial upgrades to the RB22, rather than simply finding a better car setup.
Red Bull’s resurgence has been one of the most notable developments of the second half of the 2026 season. Following months of difficulties, the Milton Keynes team finally returned to the top step of the podium at Sepang, where the Bahrain Grand Prix was held in Malaysia, before Max Verstappen repeated the achievement just seven days later in Singapore.
The turnaround has been driven largely by the substantial upgrade package introduced at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku. Those developments restored performance to the RB22, widened its operating window and finally provided a more stable platform on which the team could build.
Red Bull’s 2026 comeback began with crucial RB22 upgrades
Red Bull’s return to competitiveness was particularly striking given the team’s position earlier in the season. Until the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the Milton Keynes-based outfit had almost consistently appeared to be the fourth-fastest team on the grid, struggling to challenge its leading rivals.
The improvements introduced in Baku changed that picture significantly, allowing Max Verstappen to rediscover the performance needed to fight for pole positions and victories. The Dutch driver’s renewed competitiveness has inevitably drawn comparisons with the closing stages of the 2025 championship.
Last season, Max Verstappen mounted an impressive late challenge against Lando Norris, producing a remarkable recovery that ultimately fell short of securing the world title. With Red Bull now enjoying another strong finish to a difficult campaign, the similarities might appear obvious.
However, Max Verstappen believes the circumstances are very different. Although both seasons have featured an upward performance trend towards the final races, potentially bringing further pole positions and victories, the underlying reasons for the improvements are not the same.
Max Verstappen explains why Red Bull’s 2026 recovery is different from 2025
Speaking in an interview with the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf during the Singapore Grand Prix weekend, the four-time Formula 1 world champion explained that Red Bull’s 2025 recovery was primarily the result of discovering a setup solution that the team had previously considered unsuitable.
“This year is a completely different story,” Max Verstappen explained. “Last season, it was entirely about setting up the car, because for a long time we had thought that a certain setup couldn’t work with that car, but then it turned out that it could.
“It was an important lesson, but in 2026 it has been different. At the beginning, we could have tried any kind of setup, but it wouldn’t have improved the balance. The latest upgrades, however, have helped a lot, because now I can find my rhythm more easily and push to the limit.”
The distinction is significant. In 2025, Red Bull managed to extract additional performance by discovering a more effective way to configure its existing car. In 2026, by contrast, Max Verstappen believes that setup changes alone could not have resolved the RB22’s fundamental balance problems.
The upgrades therefore represented a genuine turning point, addressing limitations that had previously prevented the Dutch driver from finding a consistent rhythm and exploiting the car’s full potential.
Max Verstappen explains his criticism of Red Bull during 2026 struggles
Max Verstappen also addressed his sometimes critical attitude towards Red Bull during the difficult phases of the season. The Dutch driver acknowledged that he had occasionally been demanding with the team, but insisted that his comments were always intended to be constructive rather than personal.
“That’s why sometimes this year I’ve been hard on the team, but above all clear and honest,” Max Verstappen concluded. “They know within the team that they shouldn’t take my criticism personally. I’m simply a perfectionist and I always want to do better, especially when I know that we really can do better.”
Those remarks help explain the frustration that characterised the earlier part of Red Bull’s campaign. Max Verstappen believed that the team was capable of achieving more, even when the car’s limitations made it difficult to translate that potential into results.
With the RB22 now providing a more competitive and predictable platform, the Dutch driver has rediscovered the confidence to attack at the limit. The consecutive victories in Malaysia and Singapore demonstrate how dramatically Red Bull’s situation has changed since the introduction of its latest developments.
For Max Verstappen, the objective is now to maintain that momentum through the closing stages of the 2026 Formula 1 season, adding further victories and pole positions to a recovery that has been built on much more than adjustments to the car’s setup.
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