Are Red Bull and Max Verstappen doomed to a lonely F1 season?

Seven races into the 2026 season and Red Bull sit fourth in the constructors' standings on 89 points, a distant 173 behind leaders Mercedes. 

Zero wins, one podium, and four DNFs tell a story nobody at Milton Keynes wanted to tell. Yet the trajectory, at least, is pointing upwards. After the opening three rounds, the picture was far bleaker. 

Red Bull had scraped together just 16 points and languished sixth, behind both Haas and Alpine, as power-unit reliability problems wreaked havoc. Since then, a transformative upgrade in Miami, which touched almost every surface of the RB22, from front wing to diffuser, has lifted them into more respectable territory. 

Max Verstappen's P4 in Barcelona was backed up by Isack Hadjar in sixth, a double points haul that underlined genuine forward momentum. Still, Verstappen is not a man easily satisfied. 

After Barcelona, he acknowledged the work still ahead: "Hopefully we keep on improving the car with the through-corner balance, and then hopefully it unlocks also just in general a bit more pace." 

More pointedly, he admitted the current deficit forces him beyond the limit: "I'm paid for it, but if you're always forced to drive at 101% it's obvious that one day things will go wrong."

Reports suggest the RB22 remains around six to seven kilograms overweight, costing roughly two tenths per lap. Red Bull reportedly made a significant weight cut at Miami, with a further step expected for their home race in Austria later this month. 

Team principal Laurent Mekies has insisted that "there is nothing yet that we are saying cannot be fixed in '26," and the development rate he describes is aggressive, "multiplied by three or four" compared to a normal season.

The gap to McLaren in third is 52 points, hardly insurmountable with 17 rounds remaining. But closing on Mercedes or Ferrari feels fanciful unless the RB22's balance and reliability issues are truly resolved. 

Red Bull have the infrastructure, the budget, and the four-time world champion. Whether that is enough to break out of fourth remains the question hanging over Milton Keynes.

Will Red Bull rise above fourth in the pecking order this season?

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