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Max Verstappen’s ‘hands are tied’ as he can no longer make the difference to put Red Bull further up the grid.
The opening day at the Japanese Grand Prix, once again displayed the issues that Max Verstappen and Red Bull have been experiencing during the 2026 season.
Throughout practice, it had become clear that Verstappen had been experiencing issues with the front end of his RB22, an issue that he was vocal about on the radio during the afternoon session.
At the end of the final session of the day, Verstappen was in tenth place and found himself 1.3 seconds behind the McLaren of Oscar Piastri, at the same circuit he has won at across the last four Japanese Grands prix.
After not featuring on a podium across the Australian or Chinese Grands Prix, it does not look like Verstappen and Red Bull’s fortunes will change anytime soon.
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Timo Glock says the gap is ‘too big’ for Verstappen to overcome
After Friday Practice at the Japanese Grand Prix, Timo Glock spoke on Sky Sports Germany about the issues that Verstappen has been experiencing during the 2026 season.
In the past, Verstappen could make the difference, but the German believes the Red Bull is so far behind that he can no longer make the difference needed.
Glock said, “In terms of balance, it’s not really going in the direction he needs. I think he said on the radio earlier that he simply has too much understeer. And that’s exactly what he hates. He needs a good front end to position the car the way he wants.
“And the balance isn’t right at all. You could see that too just now when we walked back; the cars were out there with a lot of fuel on board. It felt like there was absolutely no balance in the car. Understeer, oversteer – you name it. And the time gap to both Red Bulls makes it clear that there are major issues there.”
He added, “the gap is simply much wider than last year. Back then, he might have been 3, 4 or 5 tenths off the pace for a weekend, but he and his engineering team somehow managed to bridge that gap between free practice and qualifying.
“Now the gap is simply too big, the problems too great, and in the end Max Verstappen’s hands are tied, so to speak. He can certainly still make a small difference, but even so, at the moment, I’d say the gap in seconds is relatively clear-cut.”
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Max Verstappen is stuck at Red Bull with Mercedes strong form
There had been suggestions that Verstappen would abandon Red Bull in favour of joining Mercedes, but with Mercedes outperforming everyone on the 2026 grid it has been suggested they will no longer be looking at Verstappen.
Ralf Schumacher has recently commented that it is unlikely that Mercedes would look at Verstappen due to the form of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli.
Schumacher said, “I would almost doubt that Mercedes still has much interest in signing him. Kimi Antonelli has now become their future hope.”
Toto Wolff himself has also rejected the idea of signing Verstappen or replacing either Antonelli or Russell for the 2027 Formula 1 season.
Wolff said, “There is absolutely no reason to even consider a line-up change, or other drivers. I say this with the utmost respect for Max.”
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