What is wrong with Max Verstappen's Red Bull car?

The car is reported to get worse over the course of a session or a race, with the behaviour centred on the rear axle. Verstappen has raised it at several weekends this season.

When can Red Bull fully fix the problem?

Red Bull have acknowledged that the issue cannot be fully fixed until 2027, meaning it will run past the end of the current season. No date or race has been given for a complete solution.

What did Verstappen mean by "a car made of paper"?

He used the phrase in qualifying at Monza to describe the RB22. It formed part of a longer run of complaints about how the car behaves across a run.

Has Verstappen raised the issue with Red Bull before?

Verstappen has said he has been complaining about it internally for years, which would place it before the current car. Red Bull have not confirmed that account.

F1

Red Bull accept Verstappen's RB22 rear-axle fault will run into 2027

The team has acknowledged that a problem which makes the car deteriorate through sessions and races cannot be fully resolved this season.

By Sportsback2h ago

国土交通省観光庁 · CC BY 4.0

Red Bull have acknowledged that the rear-axle problem which has troubled Max Verstappen's RB22 across several race weekends this season cannot be fully corrected until 2027. That timeline takes any complete fix beyond the current campaign, and follows Verstappen's own claim that he has been raising the matter inside the team for years.

What Verstappen has described

The complaint is not that the car is slow in a straight line, but that it deteriorates as a session or a race unfolds. The behaviour has centred on the rear axle, and Verstappen has flagged it at several weekends this season. That makes it a recurring theme rather than a single bad afternoon.

The most striking version came in qualifying at Monza, where Verstappen described the RB22 as "a car made of paper". Read plainly, that is a driver saying his machine does not hold together over a run.

What Red Bull have accepted

2014 F3 HockenheimringII Max Verstappen by 2eight

Red Bull's acknowledgement that the issue cannot be fully fixed until 2027 removes the prospect of it vanishing within the next few races. Whatever is brought to the car before the end of the season, the team has accepted that the underlying problem carries into next year.

The claim that Verstappen has been complaining about this internally for years is the more awkward half of the story. If it is accurate, the fault predates the current car and is not the product of one difficult season. It is his account, and it has not been confirmed by the team.

What is not yet known

2026 Chinese GP - Red Bull - Max Verstappen - FP1

No one at Red Bull has been named as explaining the cause, and no technical detail of the fault has been made public.
The team has not said whether the 2027 fix depends on a new car, a redesigned component, or a change of concept.
Red Bull have not indicated how much of the problem can be reduced in the race weekends still to come this season.
It has not been said whether the behaviour is specific to Verstappen's car or shared more widely.
Verstappen has not added to his earlier remarks since the team's admission.

Why the timeline matters

A driver of Verstappen's standing losing pace as a race wears on is a competitive problem before it is anything else. The public admission also turns attention to how Red Bull manage the rest of the season: what they tell their driver now, and what they commit to for 2027.

For the moment the picture is a team conceding that a stubborn fault will outlast the campaign, and a driver who says his warnings about it go back years. Both halves of that have been aired. The cause has not.

Frequently asked questions

What is wrong with Max Verstappen's Red Bull car?: The car is reported to get worse over the course of a session or a race, with the behaviour centred on the rear axle. Verstappen has raised it at several weekends this season.
When can Red Bull fully fix the problem?: Red Bull have acknowledged that the issue cannot be fully fixed until 2027, meaning it will run past the end of the current season. No date or race has been given for a complete solution.
What did Verstappen mean by "a car made of paper"?: He used the phrase in qualifying at Monza to describe the RB22. It formed part of a longer run of complaints about how the car behaves across a run.
Has Verstappen raised the issue with Red Bull before?: Verstappen has said he has been complaining about it internally for years, which would place it before the current car. Red Bull have not confirmed that account.