Red Bull's dominance era is looking properly distant right now. The Austrian squad hasn't bagged a single race win in 2026 so far, which is mental considering they're usually one of the top four teams alongside Mercedes, Ferrari, and McLaren. Every other big team has got wins under their belt, but not Red Bull. That's the kind of form that makes a driver start questioning things, and Max Verstappen has been pretty restless this season because of it.

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The problems at Red Bull run deep. It's not just bad luck or weird circumstances. The chassis has visibly taken a step backwards, and key staff departures over the last couple of years have really hurt them. Technical chief Pierre Wache is apparently under serious pressure because of it. Without a competitive car, even Max Verstappen can't pull off miracles, and for the first time since his rookie year in 2015, he's sitting there without a race win. That's got to sting for someone used to winning races regularly.

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Ralf Schumacher, the former F1 driver, has chimed in with a reality check for Verstappen. Speaking to Sky Sports Germany, he reckoned that a proper Red Bull turnaround isn't some quick fix. It's going to take several years, he said. Ralf pointed out that the constant back-and-forth from Max about staying or leaving has to wear thin on the team eventually. The thing is, Red Bull built their success on the back of Adrian Newey's genius designs, and once new regulations hit, they haven't been able to adapt.

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What makes it worse is that Verstappen can see the alternative. Look at Lando Norris over at McLaren, winning races with a competitive car. Max would naturally fancy his chances with better machinery. Ralf suggested the question isn't really whether Max has lost faith in Red Bull, but whether this restructuring is simply taking too long for a driver at his peak. He used Mercedes as an example, pointing out how they dominated under one ruleset but struggled to adapt when the next one came in. It takes time to rebuild properly, but time isn't always what an impatient world champion wants to give you.

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