F1 2026: Max Verstappen hits back at Toto Wolff's 'tactics'

Max Verstappen

F1 superstar Max Verstappen hits back at Toto Wolff 'tactics'

Wolff made big claims about Red Bull

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Monday 16 February 2026 18:52

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Max Verstappen has hit back at Toto Wolff's claims Red Bull have an F1 advantage.

While it was Mercedes who stunned their competitors at the Barcelona shakedown, on the first day of testing in Bahrain it was instead Red Bull who garnered compliments from their rivals.

From Verstappen's downshift trick to their DM01 engine, Toto Wolff was full of praise (and concern) over Red Bull's advantage.

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Speaking to the media, Wolff said: "They are able to deploy far more energy on the straights than everybody else. You are speaking a second, over consecutive laps.

"On a single lap we have seen it before, but now we have seen it on 10 consecutive laps with the same kind of straight-line deployment.

"I would say that as per today, on the first official day of testing, which is always with the caveat of that, they have set the benchmark."

Verstappen: Wolff praise just tactics

Wolff also called upon his Mercedes team to get their 'act together', but Verstappen believes that the team principal's comments are just 'tactics'.

Mercedes ended the three-day test in Bahrain quickest, where Kimi Antonelli achieved the fastest lap with a 1:33.669, although his overall lap count was far from the target amount.

Speaking to the media, Verstappen responded to Wolff's comments from the start of the week, and said: "That's tactics.

"It's clear that they're not revealing their hand right now.

"Let's wait and see how much power they add in Melbourne. Everyone can say what they want, but I don't care either way."

F1 Red Bull Max Verstappen Mercedes Toto Wolff