Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar are united in their desire for Red Bull to treat the remainder of the 2026 season as a grand experiment for 2027. With seven or eight races left, the team's focus shifts from championship glory to maximum learning.
Verstappen stressed that the final races are a golden opportunity to gather data and understand the RB22's behaviour across different tracks. "We have to wait a little bit now in the coming races to see how our car is going to perform, which is probably also quite good for us, to see all these different kinds of tracks," he said. "We'll probably learn a lot over these coming races of what we need for next year."
Hadjar, who has broken Red Bull's second-seat curse, added that the learning process takes precedence over individual results. "It's good. It should be eight races to the end and there's no pressure. It's not like we're fighting for any championship. Now we have eight races to learn as much as we can," the Frenchman said. "We have to try all the things, make all the mistakes now and do all the learning to arrive in 2027 ready to roll and start on high."
Verstappen has already revealed ideas for "bigger changes" to the 2027 car, which cannot be applied to the RB22 due to chassis limitations and the budget cap. The Baku package was Red Bull's final significant upgrade of the year, but Verstappen believes it's not enough. "That was a decent step, yeah. But for next year, if we really want to compete, we need to make a much bigger step. And that applies to everything: the car, the power unit, everything," he stated.
With nothing left to fight for in 2026, Red Bull has the freedom to experiment with setups, strategies, and components without the pressure of results. This is a rare chance for the team to test limits without risking championship positions. Hadjar described the team's spirit as "all in" until the end.
This approach also aligns with the 2027 technical regulations, which will bring significant changes, especially to power units. Red Bull needs to ensure that the foundations of their car and power unit are in sync with the new direction. Lessons from the rest of 2026 will be key to avoiding the performance degradation that plagued the team early this season.
For fans, the remaining races will still be fascinating to watch as every race becomes a testing ground for Red Bull. Verstappen and Hadjar will be at the forefront of gathering valuable data. If all goes to plan, the foundation for 2027 is already being laid now.
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