Although Red Bull topped the initial internal combustion engine rankings – something that is partly due to how each manufacturer has chosen to run its power unit during the opening Formula 1 races of 2026 – the newcomer still appears to be lacking on the electrical side.
According to Max Verstappen, that becomes particularly apparent at energy starved circuits, where energy management plays an even bigger role than usual.
Red Bull struggled in Japan – where the team was also battling chassis and weight issues early in the season – and the same pattern returned at Silverstone.
Before his crash, Verstappen appeared to be on course for a podium finish, but afterwards he was very clear about how he viewed that prospect.
“Even if we had finished third, it wouldn’t have been deserved at all,” said the four-time world champion.
His struggles behind the wheel were partly caused by the balance and power unit issues that made him want to start from the pitlane, but according to Verstappen they were also a consequence of the track layout not suiting Red Bull.
Verstappen felt a podium finish at Silverstone would have been undeserved, given all the problems Red Bull had faced
Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images
There are two main reasons for that. First of all, despite looking reasonably competitive at Barcelona, high-speed corners are still not Red Bull’s strongest area, and Silverstone is full of them.
Secondly, Red Bull is not the most efficient team when it comes to energy management and running its power unit, and that could become problematic again at Spa.
Oliver Bearman and Fernando Alonso have already warned that the Belgian circuit can require even more extreme energy management than Silverstone. Verstappen knows that his favourite track of the F1 calendar will therefore feel very different this year, and that Red Bull is likely to face another difficult weekend.
“Spa and Monza are going to be great, yeah,” Verstappen said sarcastically. “And that’s a real shame because Spa is obviously one of my favourite tracks. But this year it’s going to feel very different.”
Is Red Bull checkmated by the ICE ranking?
Team principal Laurent Mekies shares Verstappen’s expectation that Spa-Francorchamps could present another stern test for Red Bull.
“A week ago [in Austria], we were fighting for the win,” he said. “A few days later, here in Silverstone, we were hitting some pretty strong limitations that stopped us from extracting everything out of our package.
“We think it is compounding with a track like Silverstone. When it’s energy starving, we seem to be struggling more.
“On tracks where the energy limitations are strong, we seem to be struggling more compared to the competition. In that respect, I’m afraid Spa will probably fall in that category as well.”
Red Bull is naturally analysing the Silverstone data in an effort to optimise how it runs the power unit on those tracks, but Mekies knows the picture is unlikely to change dramatically within two weeks.
The initial ADUO ranking does not offer a short-term solution to Red Bull’s energy management weakness
Photo by: Paul Foster
“It doesn’t mean that we give up and we turn the page,” he added. “It means that we will need to improve, sooner or later. It is about improving at 360 degrees. That is what we try to do every day. We need to use this weekend to make a small step forward on this sort of track, I hope already for Spa.”
That said, Red Bull is limited in what it can do – especially if it does not receive any ADUO tokens. Those can also be used to improve the electrical side of the power unit, but if Red Bull Ford remains at the top of the ICE ranking, the manufacturer is effectively checkmated.
Red Bull appears to be lacking on the electrical side, yet because of the initial ICE rankings it cannot do anything to address the hardware. Worse still, Red Bull is effectively dependent on its rivals if it is ever to lose that first-place position.
That means there is no short-term solution, leaving Spa and Monza as significant challenges. Within the team there is greater anticipation for the Hungaroring, a circuit dominated by slower corners that should be less demanding from a power unit perspective.
“I trust that the team is learning very quickly, it is still the first year with our team. They are going to get around this sort of energy starving track,” Mekies remained optimistic.
“There may be hardware limitations, but I equally know that the team is extraordinary at turning fast. I hope we can be in a slightly better shape in Spa, but you are right in saying that from a characteristic perspective, it should be quite similar [to Silverstone].
“And then, hopefully, Budapest will give a different picture.”
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– The Autosport.com Team
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