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Max Verstappen believes Red Bull’s latest upgrades have moved the RB22 into genuine victory territory after he recovered from fifth on the grid to finish second at the Austrian Grand Prix.
The result came in front of Red Bull’s home crowd at the Red Bull Ring and followed a difficult qualifying session in which Verstappen crashed and left himself with ground to make up on Sunday. What followed was one of his strongest race drives of the season: a rapid opening phase, a decisive wheel-to-wheel move on Lewis Hamilton, and a late chase of George Russell that underlined Red Bull’s improved race pace.
Starting fifth, Verstappen immediately changed the shape of his afternoon. He climbed to third in the opening laps before passing Hamilton in an entertaining battle to move into second place.
From there, the Dutchman tracked Russell across the 71-lap race, keeping Red Bull firmly in contention. The key strategic moment came around the final stops, with Red Bull choosing not to pit early enough to cover Mercedes at a circuit where the undercut proved particularly effective. For more on that strategic picture, see our analysis of whether Red Bull’s strategy cost Verstappen Austrian GP victory.
Verstappen still produced a formidable final stint, cutting a 10-second gap and finishing right behind Russell at the chequered flag.
“It was a very good race for us today,” Verstappen said. “The first two laps were quite fun and the first half felt really good and fun to drive. Then it was basically just about trying to manage our tyres, especially after the battles with Lewis.”
Despite Red Bull’s pace, Verstappen said a technical problem prevented him from launching a final attack for victory.
“Something happened with the rear axle which made me lose pace which is why I was not able to fight at the end.”
He also admitted Red Bull may have missed an opportunity with the timing of its final stop.
“In hindsight we could have done the undercut to jump ahead and I think I had the degradation edge over George but overall I am pleased with P2.”
The major takeaway for Verstappen was the competitiveness of the upgraded RB22. After expecting a tougher race against Mercedes, he felt Red Bull had found a level of performance that was not obvious before the start.
“We did some good racing and I didn’t expect us to be that strong against the Mercedes,” he said.
Verstappen credited the team’s effort in delivering the new package and pointed to race pace as the clearest sign of progress.
“It was a great effort from the team: they have worked really hard to get the upgrades to the car so thank you very much to everyone. It was better than expected and the race pace was a lot better than we thought.”
The scale of the turnaround was best captured by his own pre-race expectation.
“I didn’t think we would fight for the win when I jumped in the car this morning, so to finish sitting here in the top three is a really positive result for us!”
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.
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