The image of Max Verstappen inside the garage, walking around his car to inspect its technical details, highlights the clear embarrassment of the four-time world champion in this very early phase of the season.
The Dutchman’s discomfort doesn’t stem solely from the new regulations or a driving style that doesn’t suit him (a feeling shared by almost all drivers on the grid). His frustration also comes from the performance of the RB22. The car has proven extremely difficult to drive and, in all likelihood, is a project that “missed the mark”.
At the start of the championship, several unprecedented solutions adopted on the Austrian car had caused quite a stir. The innermost element of the floor fences at the leading edge is a genuine flow separator. Its task is to work in synergy with the keel, while the other four elements increase the airflow volume entering underneath the car.
Also curious was the small flap located at the rear relative to the wing profiles, later discarded, which in theory was meant to direct the airflow passing on the inside face of the tire.
Meanwhile, at the rear end, a detail on the rear corner stands out: an appendage that out-washes the airflow, increasing its volume. A solution that Mercedes later copied to optimize the efficiency of the diffuser.
The baseline car did not work as expected, but the most alarming critical issue is that, despite the massive amount of updates introduced later, the car hasn’t taken a single step forward. For the Japanese Grand Prix, in fact, the engineers pulled off a true miracle by fielding two diametrically opposed cars, entrusting Max with a version featuring entirely revamped aerodynamics, almost at the opposite end of the spectrum compared to Hadjar’s spec.
The team completely overturned its aerodynamic philosophy, decisively going down the path paved by the McLaren MCL40: a different sidepod inlet was introduced, but what changed radically was mainly the shape of the side-pods, where the airflow from the radiators followed a solution almost opposite to the original design.
A major reshaping also appeared on the floor in the area ahead of the rear tire, where airflow management is highly complex. The goal is to create a sort of barrier to protect the air flowing into the diffuser, keeping the flows as clean as possible to ensure downforce and stability at the rear end.
But as mentioned, the outcome of this major upgrade package has been negative so far: the RB22 proved to be even less competitive than the “original car” driven by Hadjar. The lap times in Suzuka were ruthless: Max didn’t even manage to reach Q3, while Isack was faster than him.The technical group led by Waché clearly made a misstep.
If last season this same department pulled off a technical miracle, making the RB21 ultra-competitive and reviving a championship that seemed monopolized by the two McLarens, in this early part of the 2026 season the magic seems to have faded.
And this is happening despite the Austrian car boasting a power unit that represents one of the most pleasant surprises on the entire grid. Christian Horner’s strategy of recruiting the best ex-Honda engineers, pairing them with numerous technicians poached from Mercedes, has produced an engine that exceeds expectations.
The brand-new power unit, born in collaboration with the American giant Ford, has proven so competitive that, in all likelihood, Red Bull won’t even need to use the catch-up advantages offered by the ADUO regulatory joker.
In light of these facts, the root cause might lie within the chassis itself. Having fielded two aerodynamically opposed cars without gaining the slightest improvement, as mentioned, raises heavy doubts about the intrinsic concept of the car: from weight distribution to pure mechanics, all the way to the suspension kinematics.
In this regard, a highly significant technical detail emerges. Red Bull, which under Adrian Newey’s guidance had taken the anti-dive concept at the front end to the extreme since the dawn of the ground effect cars (setting the trend for all rivals), has taken an unexpected step back.
Looking at the comparison drawings with last season, it is evident how the RB22 now features a very traditional front suspension without fully exploiting the extreme anti-dive effect.
The cooling system of the RB22 has also undergone a profound revision: besides the interesting modification to the sidepod inlets, which now boast a wider cross-section, the central cooling exit in the rear area has changed significantly, being redesigned to be much wider.
Finally, two rather curious technical aspects remain to be analyzed: the wheelbase and the weight distribution. While on the McLaren MCL40 the extreme reduction of the wheelbase compared to the rest of the field was immediately evident (being a full 15 centimeters shorter than the Ferrari SF-26), in Red Bull’s case it is more complex to get equally precise measurements.
However, observing the RB22’s chassis, it seems that the Milton Keynes engineers, while exploiting the maximum limit of 340 cm, have also shortened the distance between the front axle and the cockpit. A value that in this case would be around 2 cm.
As for the weight distribution, it appears the Austrian team is considering an intervention to alter the car’s balance. This, however, is an extremely complex operation. The main route would involve moving the suspension wishbones forward, provided they haven’t already reached the maximum regulatory limit of 340 centimeters.
If this threshold has already been met, the only alternative would require adopting a shorter gearbox spacer; a drastic solution that would force the team to completely redesign the rear end, including the floor and the bodywork.
