Former Formula 1 driver Jenson Button has delivered a forthright assessment of Red Bull’s 2026 car, insinuating that it’s holding back its “impressive” in-house power unit.
The Milton Keynes-based squad has endured a tough start to the new campaign, as the whole grid grapples with the challenge the new regulations cycle is presenting.
An uncompetitive car – the RB22 – and the new ruleset have left Max Verstappen deflated, leading to hints that he may retire from the sport at the end of the season.
Red Bull, however, was always unambitious in the run-up to 2026, with the season also being the first it is running its own power unit, built with Ford.
But pre-season testing provided a surprising outcome that the car was indeed faster than predicted, but with the season now three races old, there are problems to deal with.
And speaking to Sky Sports F1, 2009 World Champion Button, when asked what the team needs to do to resolve its issues, was unequivocal in his answer.
“Build a faster car? That’s basically it,” he said.
“They’re still all understanding the regulations, and they’re still fine-tuning the cars… We’re going to see a lot of upgrades coming this year, more than normal, but also within the team, I think there’s always space for improvement… It’s understanding what you have, what tools you have at your disposal and maximising that.”
Button went on to give praise to the powertrain and its competitiveness, given that Red Bull and Ford have started from the bottom up on the project.
“You’d actually say that their power unit is more impressive — start from nothing and build a power unit that’s that competitive,” the Aston Martin ambassador said. “It’s probably performed better than what the car has.”
Red Bull’s task of improving the RB22 will no doubt be even harder, given it now must contend with not only Verstappen’s discontent, but also the forthcoming departure of the Dutchman’s race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase.
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