Max Verstappen’s decision to extend his relationship with Red Bull was about more than money. It was also a vote of confidence in the Milton Keynes project. After months spent correcting the RB22’s problems, Baku and Sepang have finally shown a Red Bull team capable of fighting for victories again, while the first win for its new power unit makes the message even more significant.
When Max Verstappen decided to remain with Red Bull, the team was far from enjoying the strongest period of its recent history. The RB22 had displayed clear weaknesses, the gap to the benchmark remained significant and the new technical cycle had not immediately produced the answers Red Bull had hoped for.
Red Bull needed to prove its project to Max Verstappen
To convince the four-time Dutch world champion to stay, past success and the contract alone could not be enough. Max Verstappen needed reassurance that Red Bull still possessed the tools required to build a winning Formula 1 car again.
The Azerbaijan and Malaysian rounds have begun to provide that reassurance.
For months, Red Bull’s season developed almost in reverse. The team first had to understand what was not working, then correct those problems, and only afterwards could it return to genuine performance development.
A significant proportion of the available resources was absorbed by the need to repair the weaknesses of an RB22 that, at the start of the season, delivered neither the performance nor the consistency expected from it. Under Formula 1’s budget cap, that matters: every resource devoted to correcting a problem inevitably reduces what can be invested in pursuing outright performance.
Baku upgrades changed the direction of the Red Bull RB22
That is why the closing phase of Red Bull’s season can now be viewed differently. Once the underlying platform finally became more solid, the team was able to return to something it has traditionally done better than almost anyone: develop the car.
The upgrades introduced from Monza onwards, and particularly the package brought to Azerbaijan, represented the first unmistakable sign. Red Bull’s Baku upgrades produced a clear improvement in the RB22 and gave Max Verstappen a car with which he could fight at the front again.
Max Verstappen came close to victory despite starting much further back than the car’s potential suggested he should have been. He transformed what initially appeared to be a compromised race into a fight that lasted until the finish.
The victory did not come, but Red Bull received something arguably just as important: confirmation that its technical direction appeared to be the right one.
Sepang confirms Red Bull’s progress was no one-off
Sepang completed the picture. Victory in the Bahrain Grand Prix held in Malaysia should not be viewed simply as Max Verstappen returning to the top step of the podium after a wait of more than 300 days.
More importantly, it confirmed that what Red Bull had shown in Azerbaijan was not merely a result of the particular characteristics of a street circuit.
Red Bull was quick throughout the Sepang weekend, secured pole position and displayed race pace that, despite the many variables affecting the Grand Prix, appeared even stronger than the final winning margin suggested.
Max Verstappen had to rebuild his race, deal with restarts and manage situations that were anything but straightforward. Yet whenever he was able to exploit the RB22’s pace, the impression remained the same: his rivals struggled to stay with him.
Red Bull had not simply benefited from circumstances. It had a car capable of imposing its own pace.
The Malaysia victory also continued a broader improvement in results, with Max Verstappen producing a major points recovery since Barcelona after a difficult start to the season.
Red Bull is a contender again, but not yet the benchmark
None of this means Red Bull has suddenly erased every problem that affected its season, nor does one weekend at Sepang automatically transform the RB22 into Formula 1’s new benchmark car.
Some circuits will probably continue to expose limitations that have been reduced rather than completely eliminated.
But a genuine contender does not necessarily emerge only when it becomes the strongest car at every circuit. It becomes one when there are again tracks where it can arrive with a realistic expectation of fighting for victory.
Red Bull appears to have returned at least to that level.
Max Verstappen receives first concrete proof his decision can pay off
For Max Verstappen, the recent improvement is also the first tangible test of the decision he made over his future. When he chose to remain with Red Bull, he was not committing only to what the team was at that moment, but also to what he had been promised it could become again.
A champion who has already won everything does not need to be convinced by past achievements. He needs to see a path capable of taking him back to the front.
Baku and Sepang are the first two pieces of evidence turning that project from a statement of intent into something measurable.
Red Bull power unit takes its first Formula 1 victory
There is another factor that makes the Malaysian success particularly important: the power unit.
Red Bull’s new engine project secured its first victory during its debut season, completing a weekend in which chassis and power unit finally told the same positive story.
Building a power unit for a completely new generation of Formula 1 regulations was probably one of the biggest technical gambles undertaken at Milton Keynes since Red Bull entered the championship.
Winning in its first season does not mean every weakness has already been solved, but it does demonstrate that the foundations are considerably stronger than could simply have been taken for granted.
Red Bull’s future looks less theoretical after Sepang
The World Championship has not suddenly returned within reach, and it would be a mistake to use one victory to rewrite Red Bull’s entire 2026 season. The current competitive picture remains clear in the Formula 1 driver standings.
What has changed is that Red Bull’s future now appears less theoretical than it did a few months ago. The team has stopped merely chasing solutions to its own problems and has started chasing its rivals again.
At Baku, Red Bull came close to winning. In Malaysia, it completed the job.
With the remaining races on the 2026 Formula 1 calendar offering more opportunities to assess the RB22, Red Bull now has the chance to prove that Sepang represented the start of a sustainable trend rather than a single peak.
More than any statement or promise, that may be the answer “Super Max” had been waiting for.
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