Sometimes the pace is there, sometimes it is not. During the opening phase of the 2026 Formula 1 season, Red Bull has shown encouraging signs of competitiveness, but those performances have also been interrupted by some worrying downturns.
The team has looked like the second-fastest force at certain events, while at others it has fallen to fourth place, significantly behind the leading trio. That contrast was evident between Canada and Barcelona. The Spanish Grand Prix in particular highlighted the issue, with the RB22 struggling against Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren on the long straights and high-speed corners of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
After the race, Max Verstappen explained the difficulties that affected his car throughout the Catalan weekend. When the tyres are subjected to a specific type of stress—especially the forces generated through fast corners on a tyre-demanding surface such as Barcelona—the Milton Keynes-based car lacks the performance needed to fight for pole position, victories and podium finishes.
“I was a little bit lucky to finish fourth, and it was a lonely race for me. I think that on all three tyre compounds we were slower than the cars ahead of us. At that point, I just focused on my own race and tried to make the tyres last until the end.”
“We simply need to work harder and bring more performance to the car. But we also know that this is the first circuit in quite a while with very high speeds and a lot of energy being put through the tyres, which naturally leads to high degradation. It is clear that, in these areas, I think we can do a bit better.”
“It’s obvious that we are behind Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren. We finished behind all of them. We are not yet where we want to be, and we are working on it. Hopefully, in the short term, we can fight much more closely with them.”
Verstappen’s comments were echoed by Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies. He underlined how the characteristics of the Barcelona circuit exposed the weaknesses of the RB22, both in terms of chassis performance and the much-discussed power unit.
“We are not stuck in no man’s land; we are involved in the fight for the top four. However, we are not able to compete for podiums at every race. We managed to do that in Canada and Monaco, but not in Barcelona.”
“This is a track with long straights and high- and medium-speed corners. We had not seen a circuit like this since China and Japan. We were three to four tenths off in both qualifying and the race. We have a gap to close both from a chassis perspective and from a power unit perspective.”
Fully aware that the RB22 is not consistently competitive enough, Red Bull will bring a major upgrade package to its home race in Austria, which will take place at the Red Bull Ring in less than two weeks.
The goal is to improve the car’s overall performance not only through aerodynamic developments but also by reducing weight. The RB22 is set for a “diet” aimed at making the car lighter and gaining valuable hundredths of a second through the removal of a few kilograms.
“Our next upgrade package will arrive in Austria. It will be an important one, and the team in Milton Keynes is working extremely hard to make it happen. But we have no doubts that, even when we introduce these upgrades, they will not be enough. Therefore, we will need additional developments to improve further.”
“It will be important for us to maintain a constant development trajectory. The key objective is to reduce the gap from the four tenths we saw in Barcelona.”
“As for the upgrades we are bringing to Austria, the goal is… to eat less. Hopefully, we will be lighter at the Red Bull Ring. The target is to reduce the weight of the RB22s already in Austria by putting them on a bit of a diet.”
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