Lewis Hamilton is not in the habit of flattering the competition, so when he volunteers that Red Bull just gained three to four tenths and are going to be a force to be reckoned with, you would be wise to pay attention.
Three to Four Tenths From Nowhere
Red Bull arrived in Austria with a seven-component upgrade package on the RB22, and the results were immediate. Max Verstappen crossed the line in P2, just 1.6 seconds behind race winner George Russell, marking his and the team’s best result of the season.
Hamilton was blunt in his assessment. “I think they must have brought a three to four tenths upgrade,” he said. “Three tenths was just from the weight that they dropped from the car, which is huge, considering they’ve been so close in some of the races, like Monaco, and they were nine kilos overweight.”
Nine kilos overweight at Monaco. Let that sink in. Red Bull were hobbling around circuits with a car weighed down by ballast they should never have been carrying, and they have only just addressed it. George Russell took the Austrian GP win as Ferrari’s night fell apart, but the real story was in that P2.
Verstappen’s Honest Account
Verstappen himself was typically direct. The first half of the race felt genuinely competitive, he was closing on Russell, and the battles with Hamilton only cost him time rather than momentum. Then the rear of the car gave up entirely.
“Something felt off on the rear of the car,” Verstappen admitted. “Everything was just extremely difficult, from bumps, kerbs, traction, it was just completely gone.” He raised those RB22 concerns openly after the race, and Red Bull need answers before Silverstone.
Still, he noted it was the first time all season he genuinely felt he could fight for a victory. At this point in 2026, that is progress worth acknowledging.
The Development War Has No Finish Line
Red Bull simulator driver Sébastien Buemi offered a useful reality check. “The car is way better than it was at race one. If we would have had this car at race one, it would have been a game changer.” True enough, but that is precisely the problem with hypotheticals in a sport that moves weekly.
His more pointed observation is the one that stings. “Whether you gain two tenths or three tenths, if the others have gained five and you gain four, the car will feel better, but you’ll still be worse off.” Red Bull has also hinted that Austria represented their last major upgrade package of the season. Whether that holds true remains to be seen, but it puts enormous pressure on every remaining round.
Ninety-Eight Points and Counting
Kimi Antonelli leads the championship by 98 points. That is not a gap you chip away at; you need wholesale collapses from the opposition, combined with perfect execution from your own side. Red Bull has delivered neither consistency nor reliability for most of 2026. Ferrari’s Austrian collapse shows how quickly things unravel at the front, but Mercedes have looked composed and fast all year.
If Verstappen finds that consistency, if Red Bull hold their upgrade gains, and if Mercedes hit a wobble, the British Grand Prix at Silverstone could be the start of something. But right now, “could be” is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence.
