Max Verstappen Faces Tough Title Battle in 2026 F1 Race

Motorsport photo Max Verstappen has endured an incredibly frustrating start to the 2026 Formula 1 campaign with the four-time world champion lingering eighth in the standings. The Red Bull driver started with sixth in the Melbourne opener, which was actually respectable considering he started 20th following a crash in Q1. So it wasn’t all doom and gloom at the Austrian outfit a week ago, because it looked neck and neck with McLaren for third in the pecking order following a positive pre-season with its new in-house power unit.

But then everything unravelled over the weekend at round two in China, where Red Bull was lacking overall pace. “The whole day has been a disaster, pace-wise,” said Verstappen after qualifying eighth for the Shanghai sprint race, two spots above team-mate Isack Hadjar and 1. 7s off polesitter George Russell .

“Yeah, no grip. Honestly, I think that’s the biggest problem - no grip, no balance, just losing massive amounts of time in the corners. ” He went on to claim his first non-points finish in a sprint race since the format's introduction in 2021 and while it’s easy to say that the RB22 was just lacking overall performance, a closer look shows that there’s a real problem with Verstappen’s race starts.

The procedure under the new 2026 regulations is more complex thanks to the removal of the MGU-H, which means drivers must rev their engines much higher for at least 10 seconds to spool up the turbo. They must also make sure that they harvest enough energy on the formation lap to have good acceleration off the line, but this is something Verstappen has failed to do since Melbourne. Read Also: Max Verstappen: F1 fans who enjoy 2026 rules 'don't understand racing' In Australia he endured a slow getaway, citing “no battery” as the cause, which was also present in the sister car: Hadjar enjoyed a lightning getaway from third, almost took the lead, before suddenly backing off due to a lack of battery and eventually retired.