RaceFans has reported:

Max Verstappen says Red Bull has made major progress with a car that was sometimes “a bit scary to drive” early in the 2026 season. He said the car became more balanced after the team’s recent upgrades, which have improved its performance and made it easier to compete near the front.

“The car definitely felt a lot nicer from Baku onwards,” Verstappen said. “It’s just been a lot more balanced. Then naturally, of course, when you can compete a bit further up front without having too many issues with the car compared to the beginning of the year, where it was actually sometimes a bit scary to drive, that makes it a lot nicer.”

The team struggled to get on top of the car earlier in the year. Verstappen spun out of the British Grand Prix and had costly spins during qualifying at the Red Bull Ring and Hungaroring.

In Baku, he finished a close second behind George Russell. Verstappen qualified eighth there and was in contention for pole position until a yellow flag compromised his final lap. He has been undefeated since that race and expects Red Bull to stay competitive through the remaining rounds.

“We’re not in a championship fight, and that’s why I think ’til the end we’ll just try to have a good time and try to add more podiums and hopefully a few wins,” Verstappen said.

Red Bull has now made a breakthrough with a troublesome car in the second half of the season for the second year in a row. Verstappen said the cars and the problems they presented were different, with regulations changing between them.

“Two completely different cars as well, with the regulations,” he said. “Also two completely different problems.” He said the team had to find lap time and that getting the most out of the engine had been complicated for everyone this year.

“We had to find lap time. Plus, of course, also this year with the engine side of things, I think for everyone it’s been sometimes a bit complicated to get the most out of it,” Verstappen said.

He said Red Bull needs to start next year in better shape, while acknowledging that the team is not yet where it wants to be. Verstappen said the experience gained since the first race, along with work to fix weaknesses in the car, should help the team prepare for the next season.

“From race one to now, I think we’ve gained a lot of experience. Of course, we’re still not where we want to be, but I guess everyone will say the same thing,” he said. “But we have learned so much and definitely also on the car side have fixed a lot of our weaknesses. We just need to keep improving, keep learning this year that so we can apply that also into next year.”