Formula 1 will have a long break following the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix and up to the race in Miami which Red Bull Racing can use to sort out their problems, something Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar are not so sure about.
That break is a result of the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix due to the ongoing war in the Middle East between the US, Israel, and Iran.
And while Williams’ boss James Vowles said his team will use every hour of that break to work on their FW48, Verstappen and Hadjar do not believe their team can benefit as much.
Red Bull’s RB22 has been troublesome with issues from the chassis due to lack of grip and balance, while their first-ever F1 power unit built with Ford has not been bulletproof despite some promise in testing.
Hadjar pinpointed what his RB22 needed after the Chinese Grand Prix where he finished eighth, he said: “We need more grip. It’s just all about that. It’s the most important bit so far.”
And when asked about the benefits of the break, the Frenchman responded: “Yes, and less points lost to everyone else, so for sure.”
However, he did warn there were drawbacks; he explained: “The more racing, the more we understand; the closer we get to the best engines on the grid. On that side it’s definitely a bit of a disadvantage for us, but it’s fine.”
As for Verstappen, who suffered a DNF in China, he had a different reasoning for why the break would not serve his team well; he said: “After Japan, of course you have a few extra weeks to put a bit more performance on the car, but at the same time others also put performance, right?
“It’s really not where we want to be. I know everyone is, of course, trying their best, and I think they are as frustrated with it as me within the team.
“We of course want to be better, and hopefully we already can be a little bit better in Japan,” the Dutchman concluded. (Reporting by Agnes Carlier)