Verstappen reveals RB22 components breaking mid-weekend as Red Bull qualify sixth at Monza

Max Verstappen qualified sixth at Monza on Saturday, almost three tenths behind surprise polesitter Pierre Gasly, after a mechanical issue between FP3 and qualifying left his Red Bull RB22 unable to handle bumps and kerbs properly.

The problem prompted a telling exchange on team radio. When Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies apologised for the messy final qualifying run, Verstappen replied that the RB22 was “made out of paper.” Speaking to Dutch media in the paddock afterwards, the four-time world champion elaborated on what he meant.

“We sometimes have components on the car that either break or get stuck,” Verstappen said. “I’ve had that feeling quite often throughout the season. Sometimes it happens in practice and then you can still fix it for the next day. Sometimes it happens during the race, which is what I had in Austria, and now it happened between FP3 and qualifying. Then the car no longer takes the bumps and kerbs properly. Our car simply bounces a lot more then and we definitely gave away a lot of lap time because of that.”

Verstappen confirmed the issue is located at the rear of the RB22, though he declined to specify which components are involved. What makes the admission particularly striking is the timing: the 2026 technical regulations brought a near-complete overhaul of car architecture, yet Verstappen insists this is not a new problem.

“I know where it is myself, but I’m not the engineer who can then solve it,” he said. “I do have some ideas, but I’ve been dealing with this for years now.”

He added that Red Bull is aware of the issue and working to address it, but has so far been unable to find a fix. “The team does listen to me and they are also trying to solve it, but at the moment they’re just not succeeding. Some weekends you suffer from it less because you drive over the kerbs less and have fewer of those hard impacts.”

The consequences extend beyond individual qualifying sessions. Verstappen acknowledged that the fragility of certain components has changed how aggressively he drives at certain points in a race weekend — a notable admission from a driver renowned for extracting the maximum from his machinery.

“I’ve already had that a few times this season, yes, where I deliberately hold back a bit,” he said. “Of course, we’ve already had a lot of problems this season.”

Verstappen also referenced his retirement at Zandvoort, noting that the component issue may have been a factor there too, though he could not say for certain how it would have developed had he continued. The Monza grid position leaves him with significant ground to make up in Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix.