Red Bull has acknowledged that the degradation affecting its Formula 1 car during race weekends cannot be fully eliminated until 2027, leaving Max Verstappen to manage the problem through the final nine rounds of the 2026 season.
The admission arrives with Verstappen sixth in the drivers’ championship on 145 points. Kimi Antonelli leads for Mercedes with 292, while Verstappen also trails George Russell, Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc.
Attention now turns to Baku, where practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix begins on September 24.
A season-long problem reaches Baku
Team principal Laurent Mekies has acknowledged that Red Bull suffers from car degradation across race weekends. The team has learned from the issue, but the current car cannot provide a complete solution.
That leaves Red Bull facing a defined limitation during the closing portion of the championship. The Azerbaijan Grand Prix, scheduled for September 24 through 26, is round 15 of the 23-round season.
Verstappen’s most recent result was second place at the Spanish Grand Prix on September 13. He finished 4.351 seconds behind Antonelli, with Norris third at 5.089 seconds.
That result gave Verstappen 18 points, yet Antonelli’s eighth victory of the campaign increased the championship gap between them to 147.
Red Bull’s results show the scale
Verstappen has reached the podium several times in 2026. He finished third in Canada, second in Austria, third in Belgium and second in Hungary before adding third in Italy and second in Spain.
The wins have not followed.
Mercedes drivers have taken 10 of the first 14 Grands Prix. Antonelli won in China, Japan, Miami, Canada, Monaco, Belgium, Italy and Spain, while Russell prevailed in Australia and Austria.
The other victories went to Hamilton at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix on June 14, Leclerc at the British Grand Prix on July 5, and Norris in Hungary and the Netherlands on July 26 and August 23.
Verstappen’s 145-point total places him 22 behind Leclerc and 41 behind Norris. Hamilton holds third with 191, while Russell is second on 211.
Hadjar adds another Red Bull variable
Red Bull’s second driver, Isack Hadjar, is eighth in the standings with 71 points. The team has said there is “Nothing wrong with his recovery” amid an injury update ahead of Azerbaijan.
Hadjar is undergoing a final evaluation before a comeback decision. No confirmed change to Red Bull’s Baku lineup has been announced.
The French driver’s strongest listed result this season is third place in Monaco, where he finished 23.394 seconds behind Antonelli. He sits 12 points ahead of Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson, who is ninth with 59.
Red Bull therefore enters the Azerbaijan weekend with two separate concerns. Its established car limitation will remain through the season, while Hadjar’s participation depends on the final assessment.
Baku starts a packed run
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix begins a sequence of three race weekends across 18 days. Baku runs from September 24 through 26, the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia follows from October 2 through 4, and Singapore is scheduled for October 9 through 11.
Six rounds then remain. The United States Grand Prix is set for October 23 through 25, followed by Mexico City from October 30 through November 1 and São Paulo from November 6 through 8.
Las Vegas runs from November 19 through 21. Qatar follows from November 27 through 29, before Abu Dhabi closes the season from December 4 through 6.
For Verstappen, that schedule provides nine opportunities to pursue a first win of the season. Red Bull, however, has already established that the underlying degradation issue will accompany its current car throughout that run.
Antonelli controls the title race
Antonelli’s advantage over Russell stands at 81 points. Hamilton is 101 behind the championship leader, Norris trails by 106, and Verstappen faces the largest deficit among the five closest challengers.
The Mercedes driver arrives in Azerbaijan after consecutive victories in Italy and Spain. At Monza on September 6, he beat Russell by 3.857 seconds. One week later, he completed the 57-lap Spanish Grand Prix in 1:34:23.754.
Hamilton has already declared his own championship bid over, saying: “There’s no stopping Antonelli”. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has continued to warn against treating the title as settled.
Red Bull’s immediate task is narrower. The team must manage a known weakness that has no full in-season fix, beginning with the first Azerbaijan Grand Prix practice session on September 24.
