- Verstappen called his Red Bull “undriveable” and retired from the Chinese Grand Prix.
- Wolff countered that wheel-to-wheel racing between Mercedes and Ferrari is thriving.
- New boost modes are generating overtakes but Red Bull cannot find performance.
Toto Wolff accepted that Max Verstappen’s Red Bull may be a “horror show” to drive after a Chinese Grand Prix weekend, but the Mercedes team principal argued the 2026 changes are producing exactly the kind of racing that F1 needs.
Verstappen retired from the race in Shanghai with a power unit issue after qualifying eighth, 0.9 seconds off the pace. His frustration with the RB22 has been building since the start of the season. “The whole weekend we’ve been off, the car is completely undriveable,” Verstappen told Motorsport.com. “Every lap is like survival. The balance is really disconnected.”
“From lap one of this new regulation I’ve not enjoyed this car, for sure,” he said.
Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies apologised to Verstappen over the radio during Sprint Qualifying, where the four-time champion was 1.7 seconds adrift of pole. “We couldn’t get the car to work in its proper windows,” Mekies said. Teammate Isack Hadjar said the gap to Mercedes had grown since the season opener in Melbourne.
Wolff draws a line between Red Bull’s problems and the sport’s health
Wolff drew a clear distinction between one team’s struggles and the quality of the racing itself. Speaking after Kimi Antonelli’s maiden victory gave Mercedes a 1–2 finish on Sunday, with Lewis Hamilton completing a Ferrari podium in third, Wolff pointed to the wheel-to-wheel racing between the two teams as evidence that the regulations are working.
According to GPblog, Wolff said he had texted Hamilton after the race. “I said I’m happy to see that you enjoy the race, these cars, and he said ‘yeah, I’m in a good place now,'” Wolff said.
Boost modes keep the fight close
The new boost and overtake modes introduced under the 2026 power unit regulations have created repeated position changes between Mercedes and Ferrari across the opening two rounds.
George Russell explained the mechanics: the driver behind can deploy boost up to 330km/h while the car ahead is limited to 290km/h, which generates a speed delta designed to assist overtaking.
Hamilton, though, identified a 0.4 to 0.6-second power deficit to Mercedes as an issue for the Scuderia. “It’s really, really hard to keep up,” he said. “You could tell they just have more grunt, they’re just pulling for longer.”
Whether Verstappen’s complaint reflects a broader view in the 2026 regulations or is merely a symptom of Red Bull’s failure to find the right setup window remains to be seen. But as the circuit heads into the European rounds, the Red Bull number one is not a happy man.
