After finishing P4 in the 2026 F1 Barcelona-Catalunya GP, Max Verstappen highlighted the improvement needed to close the gap between Red Bull and the top three teams.
Starting P5, Red Bull opted for a bold three-stop strategy that was executed effectively, allowing Verstappen to retain his track position. However, throughout the race, it was clear that Verstappen lacked the pace to compete for a top-three finish. Despite being promoted to P4 as Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli retired, the Dutchman ultimately finished 16.6s behind Lando Norris in P3, and 40.487s behind race winner Lewis Hamilton.
2026 F1 Barcelona-Catalunya GP conditions expose RB22 weaknesses
Speaking after the 2026 F1 Barcelona-Catalunya GP race, Verstappen explained how P4 was the maximum result he could have achieved.
“Yeah, I mean, we were just a little bit off on all the compounds at the end,” he shared. “The strategy that we did was good, I think. I had the right tyres, actually, from everyone. Because, for me, the hard tyres didn’t feel good. But yeah, just a little bit off.”
A strong tyre strategy proved key as high temperatures increased track degradation. With the team’s three-stop strategy, Verstappen’s first pit stop came on Lap 12, where he switched from soft to medium tyres, before completing his second stop on Lap 29.
A Virtual Safety Car (VSC) allowed him to pit for his final medium tyres and stay ahead of Charles Leclerc as Ferrai had try to undercut.
However, beyond this strategy, Verstappen acknowledged that this weekend’s high temperatures exposed several weaknesses in the RB22, as he said:
“For sure, the high speed, but that was not even in qualifying the big problem. It’s just high energy tracks, high degradation, that’s where we seem to lack still.”
Finding improvement
When asked what he thinks about Hamilton winning for the first time in red at the 2026 F1 Barcelona-Catalunya GP, Verstappen shared:
“Well done, you know, congratulations. I think it’s always super special to win, even when you’ve won already so much. To win with Ferrari for the first time, I think it’s always a special moment.”
While Hamilton’s victory, Russell’s P2, and Norris’s P3 highlighted the top-three teams’ driving strength in 2026, the four-time World Champion remained hopeful that Red Bull will find improvement soon.
“Well, it’s clear that I think we’re still behind Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren because they’ve basically finished behind each one of them. So we’re still, I think, P4 as a team. Maybe a little bit better, but it’s still not where, of course, we want to be. It’s a work in progress. I hope very soon that we can pick up a little bit more performance,” he said, before reiterating that upgrades are key to finding improvement and understanding the car better.
“Yeah, I think in general it’s just bringing more performance. I mean, better upgrades, which we are working on.”
Verstappen analyses Antonelli’s retirement
While Hamilton experienced an unforgettable 2026 F1 Barcelona-Catalunya GP, several drivers experienced the opposite as the race saw 7 DNFs. Notably, championship leader Antonelli was among those who retired after stopping on track due to reliability issues, triggering a VSC on Lap 62.
Reflecting on the 19-year-old’s unfortunate DNF, Verstappen said: “That’s racing as well. I’ve had it a few times myself that these things happen. I think for him at least the promising thing is he was flying again. I think just when it happened, he just passed his teammates. He has the pace. Sometimes reliability can be a problem. But yeah, that’s fortunately also part of racing.”
Looking at the incident from Verstappen’s perspective, the well-timed VSC was what allowed the Dutchman to smoothly complete his final pit stop and return to P5. However, when asked if the VSC was a correct choice, or whether a Safety Car would have been better, he shared:
“Depends how you look at it, right? For some people they would hope for a safety car. Some hope that it’s a virtual Safety Car. So, for me that would be better.”
Looking ahead
While F1 heads to Spielberg’s Red Bull Ring next, Verstappen explained that no circuit will suit the RB22 the best unless Red Bull can bring promising upgrades.
“I think in general, we’re still the fourth fastest team. So it’s not really going to change on any of the upcoming tracks, unless, of course, you bring performance. Because we’re not going to solve it by just changing the setup, so that’s what we’ll look at.”
Verstappen further shared the importance of upgrades, as he said: “That’s the season. Whoever brings upgrades will make a jump. It just depends who is bringing always the biggest one and the biggest improvement.”
However, when reminded of Red Bull’s position under F1’s ADUO engine development regulations, Verstappen briefly shared how he hopes it will not define the rest of his season.
“I don’t know. I hope not. I don’t think I want to answer that at the moment. At some point, I don’t know. We’ll see,” he concluded.
