There is one image that perfectly sums up Max Verstappen's 2026 season start. Suzuka, Japanese Grand Prix, closing stages of the race. The Dutchman has been glued to the exhaust pipes of Pierre Gasly's Alpine for dozens of laps. He is faster over a single lap. He wants to overtake. But every time he tries on the straights, his battery is empty. The Red Bull RB22 dies at the precise moment he needs it most.

For a driver who dominated four consecutive championships with disconcerting ease, finding himself trapped behind an Alpine is an image nobody had anticipated. And yet that is the reality of the 2026 season for Red Bull and their number one driver.

Australia: The Crash That Sets the Tone

Melbourne, Q1 qualifying. Max Verstappen brakes for the first corner, locks his rear wheels, spins and hits the Tecpro barriers. The Red Bull is destroyed. The four-time world champion starts 20th on the grid at the Australian Grand Prix.

What follows is both impressive and revealing. Verstappen fights from 20th to 6th during the race, producing one of those spectacular comebacks he is known for. But he stops there, trapped behind Lando Norris, unable to go higher. The base pace simply is not there. Had Verstappen started from pole like Russell, he would not have had the tools to fight for victory.

China: Rock Bottom

The Chinese Grand Prix is Verstappen's most difficult race weekend in a very long time. Qualifying eighth for the sprint race, 1.7 seconds off polesetter George Russell, the Dutchman sums up the situation himself with ice-cold clarity.

The race only makes things worse. Verstappen retires with a cooling failure. Red Bull admits significant shortcomings across the entire package. Team principal Laurent Mekies acknowledges that the RB22 showed deep flaws in both reliability and outright performance.

Japan: The Suzuka Ordeal

Eliminated in Q2 at Suzuka, Verstappen does his comeback work in the race. He passes teammate Hadjar, breaks into the top 10, then finds himself stuck behind Gasly's Alpine for the remainder of the race. The safety car gives him an opportunity, but it is not enough. He finishes seventh, furious but composed.

The problem is technical and clearly identified: at every overtaking attempt on the straights, the battery is empty. The new 2026 regulation, with its complex energy management, creates a system in which overtaking consumes so many electrical resources that the driver is immediately disadvantaged on the next straight.

Behind the poor results lies a recurring problem that runs through all three opening Grands Prix: Verstappen's catastrophic race starts. In Australia he cites no battery at the moment of releasing the clutch. In China, same issue. In Japan, a Q2 exit that prevents him from fighting for the front rows.

The start procedure under the new 2026 regulations is radically more complex than before. The removal of the MGU-H forces drivers to rev their engine at very high rpm for at least ten seconds before the start to spool the turbo. They must also ensure they have harvested enough energy on the formation lap to have strong acceleration off the line.

This is not purely a driving issue. It is a combination of energy management on the formation lap, start procedure and the specific characteristics of the Red Bull Powertrains engine. The RB22 and its in-house motor, developed internally for the first time, is showing its inexperience in mastering these complex parameters.

• Australia: start from the back of the grid following the Q1 crash, acceleration compromised by a lack of battery right off the start line.
• China: retirement due to cooling failure, before race pace could even be tested in normal conditions.
• Japan: Q2 exit with no chance to fight for the front rows, then inability to overtake in the race due to lack of electrical resources at the critical moment.

Poor results would be manageable if the driver kept his confidence intact. But what concerns those around Verstappen even more at the start of the 2026 season is what he says away from the car. The Dutchman, normally sharp and direct, is letting through unusual doubts about his future in the sport.

These words are striking coming from a man who has won 71 Grands Prix and four consecutive world titles. Needing to "convince" yourself every morning to get in the car is not the vocabulary of a champion at the peak of his powers. It is that of a driver who is suffering.

F1 2026: A Car Verstappen Does Not Enjoy Driving

The problem did not start with the season opener. As early as pre-season testing, Verstappen had criticised the new 2026 regulations with disarming frankness. The increased electric element, the permanent energy management, the modes that limit driver freedom: all of this deeply affects a driver who defines himself through instinct, mechanical sensitivity and the ability to push a car beyond its limits.

For Verstappen, a Formula 1 that is not very fun to drive is a Formula 1 he could do without. And Red Bull, who know their number one driver's psychology better than anyone, understand that the only possible response to this crisis is a sporting one: give him a car that can win.

Red Bull: A Team With Its Back Against the Wall

Laurent Mekies, Red Bull Racing team principal, acknowledges the difficulties with a honesty that cuts through the usual paddock rhetoric. The five-week gap between Suzuka and Miami is presented as an opportunity for intense work at Milton Keynes to understand the new package and address the identified shortcomings.

But the challenge is enormous. Red Bull developed their engine in-house for the first time in 2026, without Honda's support which is now dedicated to Aston Martin. Reliability and performance need to be built simultaneously, in competition, against rivals like Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren who are also pushing hard.