Verstappen admits Red Bull are in the ‘midfield battle’ after ‘incredibly tough’ weekend in Japan

Max Verstappen has conceded that Red Bull are now part of the “midfield battle” after he was unable to pass Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in Japan, leaving the squad with plenty of improvements to find ahead of the next round.

The Dutchman has made no secret of the challenges Red Bull are facing amid the new regulations in 2026, with Red Bull producing their own power unit for the first time this season.

After a run of four title successes, and missing out on the 2025 championship by just two points to Lando Norris, Verstappen is used to fighting at the front. However, Red Bull's early 2026 performance has seen the team fall down the pecking order with the Dutchman knocked out in Q2 at the Suzuka Circuit, where he had dominated by taking pole position and victory in each of the previous four years.

He was able to return to the top 10 on the opening laps of the race but could not find a way past his former team mate Gasly, who has enjoyed a great start to the season with Alpine by scoring in every round so far.

Asked whether their battle was a sign of how much work the Milton Keynes outfit have on their hands, Verstappen replied: “Yeah, I mean it’s not something negative [to be] compared to Alpine because they’re doing a good job. It’s just for us, of course it’s not where we’d like to be, but at the moment I feel we’re a bit more in that midfield battle than up at the front.”

Gasly ultimately held on to take the chequered flag just 0.337s ahead of Verstappen as Red Bull failed to find a solution to the balance issues that plagued both of their drivers throughout the weekend.

It was nevertheless a welcome return to the points after he retired from the last round in China due to technical issues, and the team now have close to five weeks to analyse how they can improve before the next event in Miami.

“At least my start was a little bit better and I didn’t lose as many positions,” Verstappen said. “I got past a few cars and then of course at one point you hit a ceiling. I think with Pierre, we were very closely matched – maybe on pure pace we were a tiny bit faster, but that’s easy to say now.

“It was just very hard to pass. I could pass, but then I would get repassed straight away because my battery would be empty. I did try once and I got by but on the main straight you have no battery so that’s it.

“I just tried to keep pressure on, hoping for maybe a mistake or degradation from the tyres but that didn’t happen so we finished really close.

“I think I did try to maximise with all the difficulties that I had in the car because what I had yesterday was also there today so it made it incredibly tough to feel good in the car, to be honest.”