Just now: RB22 HAS LEFT MAX VERSTAPPEN FUMING…. See details in comment

Just now: RB22 HAS LEFT MAX VERSTAPPEN FUMING…. See details in comment

    The moment on track Max Verstappen was caught on camera climbing out of his Red Bull RB22 during the 2026 Italian GP weekend, visibly furious after another technical issue ended his session early. The images show the four-time world champion removing his helmet on the pit straight with the RB22 parked, his race suit dirty and frustration clear. Team principal Laurent Mekies came on the radio to apologise for a messy final run, to which Verstappen replied that “the RB22 is made out of paper.” It was the latest in a string of weekends where reliability, not pace, has cost Red Bull.

       What went wrong with the RB22

Verstappen later explained to Dutch media that the problem was at the rear of the RB22. “We sometimes have components on the car that either break or get stuck. I’ve had that feeling quite often throughout the season,” he said. He pointed out that between FP3 and qualifying the car stopped taking bumps and kerbs properly, bouncing more and costing lap time. At Silverstone earlier this year he retired with four laps to go after a rear wing failure that left him with no rear downforce. In China he called the car “undriveable” during Sprint Qualifying. The Dutchman stressed: “Certain components at the rear are ‘not good enough’ to get through a race weekend.”

     Title implications and Red Bull pressure

The repeated failures have left Verstappen well off the pace in the 2026 championship, with Mercedes and Kimi Antonelli now controlling the title fight. Red Bull rejected a request to overhaul his RB22 before Silverstone, believing a pit-lane start offered less chance than persevering. With 10 races to go, Verstappen is now fighting just to hold second in the standings and keep his contract escape clause out of play. “I know where it is myself, but I’m not the engineer who can then solve it,” he said. “I’ve been dealing with this for years now.” As Red Bull head to Madrid, the pressure is on to fix the RB22’s fundamental reliability before the season slips away completely.