Max Verstappen dismisses theory over miserable Red Bull start

Max Verstappen has dismissed suggestions that the reason why Red Bull is struggling this season is related to its development of last year's car.

Last season, the majority of the teams stopped development of their cars early on to concentrate on the major regulations change for this year, and ensuring they hit the ground running with their 2026 machinery.

Red Bull's development plan allowed it to continue to upgrade the RB21 and keep Verstappen in the championship hunt, evidenced by his superb form after the summer break when he won six of 10 grands prix, only to miss out on a fifth title by two points.

There was a suggestion then that Red Bull would be impacted going into this year, in particular, as the team was developing its own power unit for the first time in its history.

The performance of the team and Verstappen has been found wanting over the first two grands prix in Australia and China, scoring just 12 points and lying fifth in the constructors' championship after encountering gremlins with its new PU.

Suggested to Verstappen that his and Red Bull's form was related to last year and the development of the RB21, he replied: "No, because then you can say the same from '21 to '22, and we were definitely very quick in '22."

That was with reference to the fact that the team developed the 2021 car through to the end of the season, as Verstappen went head-to-head with Lewis Hamilton for the title, winning his first in dramatic circumstances in the final race in Abu Dhabi, before another major rule change followed for 2022 when he comfortably defended his title.

Verstappen, though, still feels the team needs to do more, despite the fact that it is trying to get on top of its new PU.

"The last few years, we were in a much better stable position than we are now," said Verstappen. "There's a lot of stuff that we need to do better at the moment."