Max Verstappen missed out on a Baku victory by just 0.196 seconds, sparking fresh debate over whether Red Bull can win a Formula 1 race in 2026.
Red Bull weighs Baku near-miss against remaining 2026 chances
Formula 1 arrived at the Baku City Circuit carrying very different expectations than it leaves with. Max Verstappen finished a razor-thin 0.196 seconds behind the winner on the street track, missing a victory that the outlet reported might have been salvaged earlier had technical problems not hindered his Friday qualifying sessions. At the start of the season, a victory for Red Bull in 2026 did not look likely at all.
That narrow margin has opened a sharp debate inside the paddock over whether the team can secure a Grand Prix win before the 2026 season concludes. Laurent Mekies warns that Baku might already have been their biggest opportunity. “auf dem Papier” ist Baku wohl die Strecke, die dem eigenen Paket am meisten liege, notes the team boss, emphasizing that it is probably the track most favorable to them regarding vehicle characteristics. Yet, team figures maintain that the raw race pace demonstrated on Sunday offers genuine hope for the final stretch of the year.
Max Verstappen stated that he also believes the performance they showed in the race today gives them justifiable hope of getting a few more opportunities before the end of the year.
Verstappen himself remains wary of incoming development packages from rival constructors, specifically warning about the upcoming Mercedes update in Malaysia. As Verstappen explains, if Mercedes introduces an upgrade and it works, they will make a step forward and normally move back out of reach for the bulls.
McLaren defends Baku upgrades as Aston Martin writes off the season
Further down the pit lane, McLaren spent the weekend managing expectations around their own technical package. Despite finishing away from the very front of the field, Andrea Stella confirmed that just because they were not quite at the front in Baku, it does not mean the upgrade introduced there failed to work.
Andrea Stella stated that the upgrades worked well all weekend and they were able to slightly improve the car’s lap time, according to Formel1.
However, the team has not yet seen the full effect of the update. The background is that the track in Baku generally does not suit their package, meaning a much more comprehensive upgrade package would have been required to make a difference in Baku, according to Stella. He remains “zufrieden” nonetheless, noting that the data seems to confirm there are no problems with the upgrades and expressing hope that they will benefit more from them in the upcoming races.
Oscar Piastri endured a difficult Sunday afternoon after dropping out of a potential podium contention. The Australian could have been on the podium yesterday, but then locked up in Turn 1. Das war ein Anfängerfehler
, criticizes expert Jacques Villeneuve on Sky. The 1997 World Champion states that Piastri was surprised when he looked in his rear-view mirrors and simply completely missed the braking point, adding that mistakes happen when pushing too hard. Piastri himself says he did not actually brake that late while defending against Isack Hadjar, but his tires locked up immediately. As 13th, the McLaren driver ultimately remained completely without points after his mistake.
Meanwhile, Aston Martin experienced a disastrous outing as both cars failed to reach the checkered flag. Lance Stroll reported that they had a water pressure problem, which is why he was told to stop the car. Fernando Alonso added that unfortunately they had to retire the car from the race because they apparently lost a lot of time on the straights, and they now need to analyze that more closely. According to Honda, however, there was no problem with the engine. Shintaro Orihara states that they reviewed all currently available data, the engine is fine, and they cannot detect any problems based on the data.
Stroll conceded that supporters should not expect a mid-season turnaround, admitting that development has essentially stalled. Lance Stroll announced that since they are not introducing many upgrades this year, nothing really changes at the moment, so they are planning more for next year and know that it will stay this way for this year. At Aston Martin, the focus is already on 2027, and the current season is merely meant to be gotten through somehow. Lance Stroll summed up that at the moment there is not much positive and there is actually nothing positive at all.
По теме
