Verstappen admits 98-point gap makes 2026 title charge a distant prospect despite Austrian surge

Max Verstappen delivered his best result of the 2026 Formula 1 season at the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday, finishing second behind race winner George Russell, yet the four-time world champion was candid about how far Red Bull still needs to travel before he can seriously threaten championship leader Kimi Antonelli.

Verstappen trails Antonelli by 98 points, a deficit he acknowledged is substantial even with the majority of the calendar still to run. “We had very good pace, but I think to fight for a title we need to be more all-around,” he said. “We still have too many issues — if that’s from a start to just procedural issues in the background that I think you guys don’t know about, but I know about.”

The result at the Red Bull Ring was the product of a significant upgrade push from the Milton Keynes outfit, which began the 2026 campaign with the fourth-fastest car. A first wave of improvements arrived in Miami, and a second, larger package centred on a brand-new floor was introduced in Austria. The changes took time to bed in across practice sessions as engineers worked to rebalance the RB22, but once the car found its window, Verstappen had the pace to genuinely threaten Russell and comfortably outrun Antonelli in the sister Mercedes.

His weekend could have been even stronger. Verstappen looked set for at least third on the grid in Q3 before crashing at Turn 9 in what appeared to be a technical failure involving the rear wing. Starting further back, he still carved through the field to apply real pressure to Russell in the closing stages.

Since Miami, Verstappen has accumulated 61 points — a tally that includes a Monaco retirement after stalling on the grid from second place. The upward trend is clear, and the upgrades have been described internally as crucial not only to this season but to Verstappen’s longer-term commitment to the team.

The 28-year-old drew a comparison to his 2025 comeback against McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, noting that his current gap to Antonelli is similar in size to the one he eventually closed. But he stopped well short of declaring a title fight, pointing instead to recurring weaknesses — particularly at race starts — that Red Bull must resolve before they can be considered consistent front-runners, let alone championship contenders.

“It’s not a big criticism,” Verstappen added. “I think everyone is aware. But we always want to be better, we chase to be the best.”