Throughout the race, Verstappen complained on team radio about several issues he was experiencing in his RB22, from tyres, boost mode, and energy deployment.

While a recovery drive from P20 to P6 is no mean feat, the Dutchman was clearly unhappy yet again with the 2026 cars, even warning of a possible F1 exit due to his discontent.

Looking back on the team radio between Verstappen and 'GP', Red Bull's issues were abundantly clear.

On Lap 17, the Dutchman complained about his tyres, telling his race engineer they "are no good, mate. They're just dying," while on Lap 24, he said: "For me, all the tyres are terrible."

Then, on Lap 36, it became clear Verstappen was having boost and energy problems, the four-time world champion said: "Yeah, the boost pattern is f*cked."

On Lap 52, he then said: "Ah, deployment s**t itself again. F***ing hell."

Verstappen is not the only one frustrated with the new 2026 regulations. As was race engineer 'GP', who seems to have taken a swipe at the frontrunners who are "elated with this whole thing."

The engineer does not name names, but it's worth pointing out Mercedes' positivity after their one-two victory in Melbourne, while Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton said he "personally loved" racing in the new cars after his P4 finish.

Here is the full cooldown exchange between 'GP', Verstappen, and team principal Laurent Mekies, in which the Dutchman said the RB22 was "super frustrating to drive."

Lambiase: “OK, Max. Good effort. Not a bad recovery, that. P6."

Verstappen: “Yeah, thank you, mate. I did what I could but we just grain way too quick. And also the hard tyre was definitely worse.”

Mekies: “Thanks, Max. We take the P20 to P6. Even if it takes some frustrations, you did a good fight out there and we take the learning of this race as a group, so we go on to the next one. Well done, thank you.”

Verstappen: “Yeah, thank you, guys. You guys all worked very hard for this and you’ve done a really good job. It’s just super frustrating to drive, but thank you.”

Lambiase: “Frustrating? There’s drivers up front, Max, elated with this whole thing.”

Verstappen was even more negative about the 2026 regs in the post-race media sessions, and when asked whether things may improve in China, he gave a rather defeated, blunt reply.

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