Max Verstappen's Red Bull 'mistrust' as 2026 car is getting 'worse'

Former Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has claimed that Max Verstappen's lack of trust in the team's 2026 car has removed the 'Max factor'.

The Austrian, who departed the team at the end of the 2025 season, also warned that the updates the team brought to the Japanese Grand Prix last month appeared to make the car worse, not better.

Verstappen has continued to threaten to leave the sport if the racing is no longer too his liking, but he would be just the latest of a number of the key pillars to leave the team.

Christian Horner, Adrian Newey and Marko himself have all departed in the last two years, with Verstappen's race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase set to join them after agreeing a deal to move to McLaren after the 2027 season.

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Marko: Lambiase is huge loss for Red Bull

Marko told ORF after the news that Lambiase will leave the team: “It’s a huge loss. The two were like a long-standing married couple. They’ve had their arguments and disagreements too.

“Our team is very large. ‘GP’ was a key figure in the development and set-up of the car, and he also went his own way, not always in agreement with the rest of the technical team."

The octogenarian also spoke strongly on the machinery currently provided to the team's star driver, saying: “The Max factor is only present when he has a car he trusts. At the moment, that is not the case. The positive thing is that the start in Melbourne, with Hadjar finishing third on the grid, went well.

"But the updates, particularly the one in Japan, have taken the car down the wrong path. It has got worse. Presumably, over the course of the European season, Red Bull will be able to get back among the frontrunners."

READ MORE: FIA 'confront Red Bull' over Verstappen kicking out British journalist

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