Red Bull Racing can make Max Verstappen happy with a winning car

Verstappen has been vocal since the first 2026 Formula 1 preseason test in Bahrain about the way the new cars drive and admitted he didn't like that, which has caused a stir within the sport's community.

However, the Dutchman has vowed to do his best once in the cockpit of the RB22 regardless of how he feels about the way it drives as he looks to repay the efforts of all the staff at Red Bull Racing.

It remains to be seen how the latest F1 machine from Milton Keynes performs, especially as it is propelled by the squad's first-ever in-house power unit built in collaboration with Ford.

While Mercedes and all their customers are insisting Red Bull have a winning package, the latter insist they do not.

Red Bull's tech boss Pierre Wache claimed his team are behind the competition so far, but when quizzed about Verstappen's sentiments on the new generation of F1 cars, he responded: "It's not my goal to make him happy.

"We can make him happy by winning the race," he added. "My job and the job of the team, at my level, is to make sure that we give him the tool that he's able to compete at the front.

"The regulation itself and how the car design is, in terms of how we feel with the car due to this regulation, is an outside area.

"It's an FIA discussion, and we can participate in that, but the main purpose and the main focus is to make the car better," Wache concluded.

Verstappen lost the 2025 F1 Drivers' Title to McLaren's Lando Norris and will be looking to take it back this year.