Red Bull's uphill battle: Can Verstappen break out of fourth in 2026?

Seven races into the 2026 Formula 1 season, Red Bull finds itself in unfamiliar territory. The team sits fourth in the constructors' standings with just 89 points, a staggering 173 adrift of leaders Mercedes and without a single win to its name.

Why it matters:

This is not the Red Bull that dominated the early 2020s. Power-unit reliability failures and a sluggish start left them sixth after three rounds, trailing Haas and Alpine. While a transformative Miami upgrade has lifted the RB22 into points-scoring consistency, the broader picture remains concerning. Max Verstappen is still forced to drive beyond the limit, admitting that operating at "101%" risks inevitable mistakes.

The details:

• The early collapse: Red Bull scored just 16 points from the opening three races as reliability issues wreaked havoc, leaving them languishing behind midfield rivals.
• Miami turnaround: A comprehensive upgrade package touching everything from the front wing to the diffuser fundamentally changed the car's behavior. Barcelona backed this up with Verstappen finishing fourth and teammate Isack Hadjar taking sixth.
• Weight penalty: The RB22 is reportedly still six to seven kilograms overweight, costing roughly two tenths per lap. A significant reduction came in Miami, with another step expected for the Austrian Grand Prix later this month.
• Development push: Team principal Laurent Mekies claims the development rate is "multiplied by three or four" compared to a normal season, insisting no issue on the car is beyond repair this year.

What's next:

With 17 rounds remaining, the 52-point gap to McLaren in third is recoverable. However, overtaking Mercedes and Ferrari at the front still feels like a stretch unless Red Bull solves its underlying balance and reliability problems. Verstappen has the talent, and the infrastructure at Milton Keynes is world-class, but whether the RB22 can evolve from a points finisher into a genuine race winner will define Red Bull's season.