Verstappen makes blunt RB22 admission after Barcelona GP struggles

The four-time world champion largely had a subdued race weekend by his standards, failing to challenge any of the front-runners throughout the weekend. Starting the race on the third row in fifth place, Verstappen appeared to be certain to finish in the same position until a late DNF from Kimi Antonelli, who was running in second, meant the Dutch driver climbed one position higher.

However, despite fourth place on the high-degradation circuit of Barcelona being his best outing since his podium in Canada, Verstappen is under no illusion that the Red Bull team aren’t dealing with its fair share of struggles regarding its car. Speaking to GPblog, among others, following the conclusion of the race weekend, the 28-year-old was asked what needed to be improved on the car. Verstappen was quick to signal the deficit to the front-running Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren. However, he also admitted the team is a work in progress.

“Well, it's clear that I think we're still behind Ferrari, Mercedes, and McLaren because they basically finished ahead of each of them. So we're still, I think, P4 as a team. Maybe a little bit better, but it's still not where, of course, we want to be. It's a work in progress. I hope very soon that we can pick up a little bit more performance,” he explained.

Pressed further about specifics that needed to be sorted with the car to enhance performance, Verstappen noted how Red Bull must focus on bringing upgrades that work.

The outing in Barcelona proved to be another double points finish for the Red Bull team, as while Verstappen finished in fourth place, teammate Isack Hadjar took the chequered flag in sixth, behind Oscar Piastri.

Amid the reactions trailing the results recorded by Red Bull Racing, team principal Laurent Mekies has hinted at the team coming into the next Austrian Grand Prix with major updates to the car. The 49-year-old, who had noted the race in Barcelona would be a reality check for his team, expressed relative satisfaction with the outing of both Verstappen and Hadjar.

Mekies, however, noted how the team’s goal will be to enter the next race weekend in Spielberg with a much lighter car, amid other updates set to be introduced for the Austrian GP.