2026 Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 Team

[euv2]

Max Verstappen

"We just struggled a lot with the car. It was a bit better in qualifying, but I was still a little surprised that the gap became smaller. Our car is just a bit sensitive, but overall I think we can be quite satisfied with this pace. We were around six to seven tenths off all weekend, and now we're within three tenths.

In my final lap, for some reason, I started sliding a bit too much in the last sector to find any more lap time. I lost quite a bit of time in Turns 10 and 12. From that point on, I probably took the final corner a bit more cautiously because the feeling was gone. Otherwise, P3 would definitely have been possible, but in the end I don't think it will make a huge difference to the race result. It's all about tyre degradation, pit stops and strategy. We'll see how things go tomorrow."

Max the only top driver with 2 sets of mediums left I think, will be interesting to see the strategy tomorrow.

[Gillian]

Probably weight and tyre temp related. Lawson just did a 22.9 in S3, Max did a 23.1 best of his weekend.

Agreed. Highspeed cornering is still lacking a bit but I think tires (as for everyone) are the biggest issue.

After today I'm climbing aboard the organic train. If Verstappen can be this close right now, imagine what will happen when they drop te weight etc.

Nothing will happen. They’ve been far closer to the leaders on single lap pace than race pace all year. And the deficit on genuine race pace (don't confuse with Friday FP2 pace please) is far bigger than 3 or 4 tenths we saw today.

That's factually incorrect:

Race | Driver | Qualifying | Distance to pole (ms) | Finished
Aus | Verstappen| 20| None| 6|
Aus | Hadjar| 3| 1485| DNF|
China| Verstappen| 8| 938| DNF|
China| Hadjar| 9| 1057| 8|
Japan| Verstappen| 11| 1484| 8|
Japan| Hadjar| 8| 1200| 12|
Miami| Verstappen| 2| 166| 5|
Miami| Hadjar| 22| 991| DNF|
Canada| Verstappen| 6| 329| 3|
Canada| Hadjar| 7| 357| 5|
Monaco| Verstappen| 2| 43| DNS|
Monaco| Hadjar| 5| 383| 4|

[euv2]

The car was pretty competitive with the W17, until Max runs out of grip in t10.



Ferrari had pulled ahead of the rest wrt to cornering performance with their package this week. Red bulls goal should be to beat the Ferrari chassis with the upcoming updates.

[avantman]

Agreed. Highspeed cornering is still lacking a bit but I think tires (as for everyone) are the biggest issue.

After today I'm climbing aboard the organic train. If Verstappen can be this close right now, imagine what will happen when they drop te weight etc.

Nothing will happen. They’ve been far closer to the leaders on single lap pace than race pace all year. And the deficit on genuine race pace (don't confuse with Friday FP2 pace please) is far bigger than 3 or 4 tenths we saw today.

That's factually incorrect:

Race | Driver | Qualifying | Distance to pole (ms) | Finished
Aus | Verstappen| 20| None| 6|
Aus | Hadjar| 3| 1485| DNF|
China| Verstappen| 8| 938| DNF|
China| Hadjar| 9| 1057| 8|
Japan| Verstappen| 11| 1484| 8|
Japan| Hadjar| 8| 1200| 12|
Miami| Verstappen| 2| 166| 5|
Miami| Hadjar| 22| 991| DNF|
Canada| Verstappen| 6| 329| 3|
Canada| Hadjar| 7| 357| 5|
Monaco| Verstappen| 2| 43| DNS|
Monaco| Hadjar| 5| 383| 4|

What are you showing here? Race finish position has barely anything to do with race pace deficit. In Canada they were 3 tenths off pole with Max, but around 8 tenths off on race pace, when Mercedes were still pushing snd not losing time making mistakes and fighting each other. Best result of theyear for Max but very misleading. Podium was possible only due to Mclaren strategy blunder and Russell retirement ( not to mention Leclerc’s depression).

[Gillian]

Nothing will happen. They’ve been far closer to the leaders on single lap pace than race pace all year. And the deficit on genuine race pace (don't confuse with Friday FP2 pace please) is far bigger than 3 or 4 tenths we saw today.

That's factually incorrect:

Race | Driver | Qualifying | Distance to pole (ms) | Finished
Aus | Verstappen| 20| None| 6|
Aus | Hadjar| 3| 1485| DNF|
China| Verstappen| 8| 938| DNF|
China| Hadjar| 9| 1057| 8|
Japan| Verstappen| 11| 1484| 8|
Japan| Hadjar| 8| 1200| 12|
Miami| Verstappen| 2| 166| 5|
Miami| Hadjar| 22| 991| DNF|
Canada| Verstappen| 6| 329| 3|
Canada| Hadjar| 7| 357| 5|
Monaco| Verstappen| 2| 43| DNS|
Monaco| Hadjar| 5| 383| 4|

What are you showing here? Race finish position has barely anything to do with race pace deficit. In Canada they were 3 tenths off pole with Max, but around 8 tenths off on race pace, when Mercedes were still pushing snd not losing time making mistakes and fighting each other. Best result of theyear for Max but very misleading. Podium was possible only due to Mclaren strategy blunder and Russell retirement ( not to mention Leclerc’s depression).

The simple table disproves your following statement: They’ve been far closer to the leaders on single lap pace than race pace all year.. They were not. Verstappen did not even make Q3 in Suzuka. Until Miami off the pace by a second of more in qualifying. Miami update brought them a LOT closer in both qualifying and race pace (breaking).

[Badger]

Tomorrow will be a deg competition plain and simple. Would be nice if Max could get by Norris at the start and try to stick to Antonelli, but I suppose a good start is too much to ask for with this car

[Valeo]

Max the only driver with 2 new mediums, that'll be either a genius move or a repeat of 2025

[Gillian]

Tomorrow will be a deg competition plain and simple. Would be nice if Max could get by Norris at the start and try to stick to Antonelli, but I suppose a good start is too much to ask for with this car

Let's hope it starts