Mar.14 (GMM) Max Verstappen has delivered his most alarming assessment yet of Red Bull’s 2026 package, as analysts link the team’s struggles to the organisational chaos that engulfed the Milton Keynes outfit over the past two years.
“The car’s undriveable. We never had anything this bad, with everything together,” Verstappen said in Shanghai, adding: “It has been a disaster pace-wise.”
After the sprint, Verstappen told Viaplay: “Completely rubbish. We don’t need to talk about it.
“I had no balance and no grip. The tyres were also completely screwed.”
The team sit nearly two seconds off the pace in Shanghai – a deficit that former F1 driver Giedo van der Garde, analysing for Viaplay, said was plain to see from the onboard footage.
“He’s just not in it at all,” van der Garde said of Verstappen. “There’s understeer and when it goes on the gas there’s upset. That car is not there. And the engine is just too slow, especially compared to Mercedes.”
Ralf Schumacher, analysing for Sky Deutschland, pointed squarely at the turbulence of the past two seasons as the root cause.
“You’re now paying the price for losing several people on the team,” said the former Williams driver. “The new concept under the new regulations has not been implemented as expected.”
He noted pointedly that sister team Racing Bulls had arguably outperformed Red Bull across the winter. “This is something that Red Bull really has to ask questions about internally,” Schumacher said.
He stopped short of writing the team off, however. “The potential is certainly there. There is no reason to throw in the towel.”
Verstappen’s frustration, however, extends beyond his car to the regulations, which he argues are actively punishing the sport’s best drivers.
“Basically, it penalises the driver who wants to go the fastest,” he said.
“The later you brake and the sooner you accelerate, the worse it is for the battery. So drivers who brake the latest are now actually at a disadvantage.”
Meanwhile, a social media debate erupted among fans after an onboard recording of George Russell appeared to show telemetry data freezing at the precise moment his car’s speed dropped sharply on the main straight – with some alleging deliberate concealment of the extent of the battery depletion effect.
Team bosses, asked in Shanghai about the prospect of emergency rule discussions, were measured. “We’ll probably regroup after China and discuss what adjustments are needed short term, mid-term and long term,” said Red Bull’s Laurent Mekies.
Audi’s Jonathan Wheatley agreed, but urged patience. “I can’t emphasise just what an ambitious set of technical regulations this is,” said the Audi boss. “It’s a case of trying to keep everything under control and see how it develops.”
Even Flavio Briatore was cautious. “It’s a very early stage to have a final judgment,” he said. “Let’s just see the situation.”
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