Red Bull admit to having 'no confidence' in RB22: 'Different problem every time'

Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache has issued a worrying assessment of their RB22's performance so far in the 2026 campaign, saying the team have "no confidence" in the car and encounter a "different problem" every time they head out to the track. Following McLaren and Red Bull's close three-way fight for the 2025 title, both teams have seemingly paid the price for focusing heavily on last year's championship campaign, but Red Bull are the only team out of the traditional frontrunners yet to secure a victory under the new generation of 2026 regulations. Both drivers Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar have complained of an inconsistent and unpredictable RB22, with the former unable to explain how he secured P2 at the Hungarian GP last time out. Having called the car "undriveable" during the weekend, Verstappen told media, including GPblog: "Overall, I still don't really understand how we are second. But I think as a team, we performed strongly. So, yeah, I see it as a bit of like overperformance to what we expected." Verstappen had also made headlines by declaring that the RB22 itself was "degrading" more than his tyres after a Qualifying spin earlier that weekend, with the Dutchman having to recover from a P6 grid start. Hadjar also had a positive race, recovering himself from a P8 start to P6, but could not resist from launching a sarcastic attack on the RB22. He began: "Finding a sweet spot and having something driveable for me was not possible the whole weekend," and when asked what were the main limitations of the car, the Frenchman replied: "Surprisingly, downshift this weekend has been terrible. So that's a good step back for us as a team. So that's very cool. I think it's just… yeah grip." Wache: 'No confidence' in RB22 so far this season Photo: Race Pictures Photo: Race Pictures With F1 returning from the summer break at Verstappen's home race at Zandvoort, Red Bull have made special race suits to pay tribute to the last Dutch GP for the foreseeable future, but Wache's comments will not inspire much confidence that a maiden 2026 win is on the horizon, with the Frenchman revealing the team are discovering new problems all the time with the RB22. “We fought until the end, and like the other team, McLaren, I think we are a little bit behind, both of us, based on what we did last year,” Wache explained to media, including GPblog. “The other competitors have improved a lot since Monaco. With this new car, you see a different problem every time you go to the track, when you put the car on the ground. We try to maximise it, but no confidence.” On a more positive note, Wache has said Red Bull are pleased with the progress made so far in 2026, despite Verstappen having suffered uncharacteristic crashes and spins in recent races such as Budapest, Spa, and Silverstone. "I think it’s a very good job from the team to progress and to arrive where we are. We still aren’t where we would like to be, but you try to do your best, try to understand what is not working and what you can do better, and after that you see where you are. But the main thing is that the progress was interesting as a team," Wache concluded.