Ralf Schumacher names the Red Bull figure who Max Verstappen will now have no ‘hope’ in after costly failures

Max Verstappen is now 49 points behind McLaren rival Oscar Piastri in the F1 drivers’ standings after the Red Bull racer’s self-inflicted 10th place in the Spanish Grand Prix.

The 27-year-old lost 24 points to the 24-year-old in the championship fight at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, as Piastri sealed McLaren’s first Spanish GP win since 2005 from pole position on Sunday. Verstappen took the chequered flag in P5 but drew a 10-second penalty.

Also, Verstappen merited three penalty points for driving into George Russell in Spain, which put the Red Bull racer only one point away from an automatic one-race ban. He will lose two penalty points on June 30 after the Austrian GP, but will not drop any more until October 27.

Yuki Tsunoda also failing to score any points in the Spanish GP further saw Red Bull fall down to fourth in the constructors’ championship with a whopping 218-point deficit to McLaren in first place. Ferrari also boast a 21-point lead over Red Bull, with Mercedes 15 ahead in third.

Ralf Schumacher thinks Max Verstappen will have no ‘hope’ in Pierre Wache designing Red Bull’s 2026 F1 regulation car

Red Bull have brought upgrades to their RB21 in recent rounds to try and bridge their deficit to McLaren and to also help Verstappen win the F1 drivers’ championship for a fifth straight season. Yet Ralf Schumacher feels their updates have failed and even raise bigger questions.

The former Williams F1 driver feels Verstappen will have now lost faith in Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache, who replaced Adrian Newey in charge of the team’s design crew. His inability to improve their RB21 will also raise doubts about Red Bull’s car for F1’s 2026 rules.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about F1’s 2026 engine and chassis regulations

Schumacher pondered on Sky Germany’s Backstage Boxengasse: “Red Bull are struggling at the moment and will continue to struggle for the foreseeable future… What gives me hope as a driver that Red Bull will build the absolute winning car again next year?

“The multiple updates didn’t work out so well. So, why should I now assume that Pierre Wache will suddenly build the miracle car with the new regulations when he doesn’t even understand the old car properly?”

Max Verstappen is still set to bet on Red Bull in 2026 even if he loses faith in Pierre Wache

Red Bull introduced an upgraded floor on Verstappen’s RB21 at the Miami Grand Prix, which featured a modified floor edge and fences. Wache’s team hoped their upgraded floor would increase the load created and stability of the air-flow before making a further step at Imola.

Verstappen again saw Red Bull upgrade his floor at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix as Wache and his colleagues tweaked the venturi channels and lateral edge. Red Bull also fitted a new front wing onto his RB21 to meet the FIA’s flexible front wing clampdown at the Spanish GP.

Yet Piastri lapped the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya 0.302 seconds faster than Verstappen in Q3 to score pole for the Spanish GP, which he led comfortably before and after the safety car to recover Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes. Piastri seldom had to push to stay in front.

Now, Schumacher thinks Verstappen will be having second thoughts about Red Bull’s car for the 2026 F1 regulations. He is not the first to doubt the team’s technical director, either, as there have been suggestions that Verstappen has lost confidence in Wache’s Red Bull team.

But the Dutchman is set to bet on Wache for next year, as Verstappen is ready to stay at Red Bull in 2026 despite his exit clause. The 27-year-old can quit the team this summer if he falls outside the top three in the standings, but questions Newey’s impact on Aston Martin’s car.