Red Bull Racing is treating the last seven weekends of the 2026 season as a testing ground, determined to avoid a first winless year since 2015 while scouting the next car’s fundamentals.
Four‑time champion Max Verstappen said Baku “was theoretically the best chance” because the layout retained its advantages and Mercedes hadn’t yet rolled out its long‑awaited upgrade. Yet he underscored that the primary focus now is a performance audit, “waiting to see how the car behaves across diverse circuits so we know what we need for 2027.”
Verstappen finished with, “We’re not fighting for the championship yet, so it’s a big learning curve. The last few weekends have been better than the start.” This sentiment carries through the team’s strategy, turning each race into a data‑collection opportunity.
Driver Priorities Shift to Lessons, Not Wins
Team‑mate Isack Hadjar echoed that sentiment. He framed the remaining eight races as a “pressure‑free” window to experiment, “make all the mistakes now and learn everything we can.” The Frenchman emphasized a mind‑set shift: arrival in 2027 “ready to roll” from a “structural” understanding learned over endurance.
Hadjar stressed alignment with Verstappen on the necessity of a ‘bigger step’ the next season, concluding with, “Yes, absolutely. We’re mostly aligned on those things.” This affirmation underlines a unified direction within the cars and power‑unit teams.
Plans for 2027: Bigger Upgrades Come Early
Despite having upgraded the Baku package as the final major update, Verstappen said, “That was a decent step, but next year we need a much bigger leap. It applies to everything: the car, the power unit, everything.” He also clarified that, “Without an ADUO token we can’t change the power unit much, but we can still fine‑tune.”
Verstappen hinted at changes that cannot be implemented on the RB22 due to chassis and budget limits, noting the 2023‑based+ budget cap compels early design decisions for the RB23. These adjustments aim to prevent last‑season car degradation from re‑emerging.
“We’re very clear on that bigger change,” said Verstappen, adding that the team will continue to press the envelope through the remaining races, “to arrive in 2027 ready to roll and start on high.”
With the balance of learning and performance already tipped, Red Bull’s winding‑down strategy hinges on early, substantive data collection to inform the next‑year advancement plan—a plan the team expects to reveal only after the season concludes.
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