Max Verstappen has delivered a sobering assessment of Red Bull’s competitiveness following a dismal Dutch Grand Prix weekend at Zandvoort.
The four-time world champion was one of two drivers caught out by drying conditions at the start of Sunday’s race, crashing heavily on the opening lap.
Verstappen admitted he misjudged the moment to apply power after spotting a dry line appearing through the final corner of the circuit.
“As soon as I was going through the corner I could see a little bit of a dry line coming and I thought from this point on I could accelerate again, but it suddenly accelerated a lot and it caught me out, simple as that,” he told Sky Sports.
The 28-year-old made contact with the outside wall, though Gabriel Bortoleto spun harmlessly behind him without further incident involving other cars.
“Tried to correct it, but couldn’t. Then you hit the wall, but it could have been a lot worse, because there were a lot of cars behind me as well, luckily that all went well,” Verstappen added.
The crash came after an already miserable weekend for the Dutchman, who had finished sixth in both sprint qualifying and the sprint race before qualifying seventh for the grand prix itself.
Verstappen pointed to a consistent pattern of underperformance across the season, suggesting Red Bull have been the fourth fastest team on average throughout 2026.
“If you look on average the whole season, we have been fourth fastest. I think this weekend really highlighted that, we’re a little bit behind but we want to be closer. Maybe in Monza we are, but I don’t know,” he said.
Most concerning for Red Bull fans was Verstappen’s admission that some necessary improvements to the car cannot be implemented until next season at the earliest.
“We’re getting towards the end of the season and you also have to look at next year, I think there are a few things in the car that we are looking at that can only be changed next year to really find a lot more performance,” he explained.
The Dutchman made clear that fans should not expect a dramatic turnaround in the second half of the season, cautioning that the road ahead remains difficult.
“We will try to maximise everything we can with this car, but it’s not going to be, let’s say, the most straightforward end to the season, but we’ll try to do the best we can,” Verstappen said.
Despite the gloomy short-term picture, there are reasons for optimism at Red Bull heading into the future of the sport.
Last Thursday, Verstappen announced he had signed a new contract extension with Red Bull that runs through to 2030, putting an end to speculation about his long-term future in Formula 1.
The team also have the best power unit on the grid in the first season of the Red Bull Powertrains project, according to FIA ADUO benchmarking data.
Red Bull are additionally working to strengthen their technical operation, having captured ace Mercedes talent scout Gwen Lagrue and likely former Aston Martin star Tom McCullough as well.