Verstappen aims to ‘keep momentum going’ after ‘nice improvements’ from Red Bull at recent races

Max Verstappen is hopeful that Red Bull can continue their “upward trend” at the Hungarian Grand Prix, having been encouraged by the “nice improvements” the team are making so far in 2026.

After a steady start to the campaign, and F1’s new era of regulations, Red Bull made a clear step forward three rounds ago in Austria, where they introduced a major upgrade package for the RB22 challenger.

Verstappen has put those updates to good use, scoring podiums at the Red Bull Ring and at Spa-Francorchamps last weekend, and only missed out on another at Silverstone due to an issue with their ‘macarena’ rear wing, which has since been removed.

Ahead of this weekend’s action in Budapest, which will be the last before the summer break, Verstappen expressed his optimism that Red Bull will be competitive enough to “keep that momentum going”.

“I’m looking forward to go out here and see how competitive we are – I don’t really know,” said the four-time World Champion at the Hungaroring on Thursday.

“We had a decent weekend in Spa; to be on the podium there was definitely very nice. It’s been in general an upwards trend the last few races, so that’s good to see.

“The season probably didn’t start where we wanted it to start, so we’re making nice improvements.”

Asked if it is a case of Red Bull’s new power unit over-performing, and their chassis under-performing, so far this season, the Dutchman added: “I think the engine guys in general have been very straightforward and honest about what they were doing, so everything that they said more or less came true, I think.

“I mean, it’s nice anyway to see the project where it started a few years ago to where we are now. It’s super impressive to have this kind of performance.

“We didn’t start the season, I guess, how we wanted it to go, but we see an upwards trend. Hopefully we can keep that momentum going.”

As for whether Red Bull will get themselves in a position to return to winning ways before the year is out, Verstappen signed off: “I hope at some point. I don’t know when, but we always go out there to try and win.”

After 10 rounds, Verstappen sits seventh in the Drivers’ Championship on 91 points, 113 away from leader Kimi Antonelli, while Red Bull are fourth in the Teams’ battle, behind McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes.