Max Verstappen enters the second half of the 2026 Formula 1 season with one major target still outstanding: winning at least one Grand Prix to preserve a season-winning streak that has continued since 2016.
Verstappen has experienced only one winless Formula 1 campaign, his rookie season with Toro Rosso in 2015. Since claiming his maiden victory in 2016, the Dutchman has won at least one Grand Prix in every season.
After 11 rounds of F1 2026, however, Verstappen has yet to reach the top step of the podium. He has recorded four podium finishes, but the RB22 has so far lacked the consistent performance required to challenge Mercedes for victories.
The situation has also left Red Bull as the only one of the leading four teams yet to win a race this season. Mercedes has set the leading pace, while Ferrari and McLaren have both already taken Grand Prix victories.
There are nevertheless encouraging signs in the RB22's development. Red Bull started the season more than a second away from the front-running W17 performance, but that deficit has now been reduced to only a few tenths of a second.
Verstappen has faced a similar situation before. He had not won a race by the 2017 summer break before going on to triumph at the Malaysian and Mexican Grands Prix. Sepang returns to the calendar in 2026 to host the Bahrain Grand Prix, providing an interesting link to one of Verstappen's key victories from that season.
Red Bull also demonstrated its ability to transform its competitiveness during 2025, when a floor upgrade introduced at Monza changed the team's and Verstappen's fortunes. The question for the second half of 2026 is whether the development of the RB22 can produce another comparable step.
Red Bull itself has also won at least one Grand Prix in every season since 2016, meaning the team's target is closely aligned with Verstappen's personal streak. If the RB22 fails to deliver a victory before the end of the year, 2026 would become Verstappen's first winless season since his 2015 debut and bring one of the longest-running consistency records of his career to an end.
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