Formula 1, Sportrik Media - Max Verstappen compared racing in the midfield during the 2026 Australian Grand Prix to a “Mario Kart” style battle after fighting through the field at Albert Park in Melbourne. The Red Bull driver delivered a strong recovery drive to finish sixth after starting from the back of the grid.
Verstappen was forced to line up at the rear following a spin into the barriers during qualifying, which ended his session early. From there, the four-time world champion executed a series of overtakes throughout the race and was voted “Driver of the Day” by fans after climbing through the order.
Despite the comeback, Verstappen said the racing dynamics created by the 2026 regulations—particularly the management of energy harvesting and deployment—made wheel-to-wheel battles feel unusual.
“Chaos, up and down,” Verstappen told Viaplay.
“You overtake someone on one straight and then you can be overtaken again on the next.”
According to Verstappen, the differences in energy deployment between cars led to dramatic speed changes, especially during battles in the midfield.
“Of course I also have better cornering speed than the midfield, so they can’t attack me again through the corners.”
“But in the midfield it felt a bit like Mario Kart.”
After clearing the midfield traffic, Verstappen encountered further issues with the car during the remainder of the race.
“At the beginning I tried to stay out of trouble because we were much faster than the midfield,” he explained.
“You just need to get through that phase without any incidents.”
The Dutch driver later revealed that tyre graining and brake problems affected his performance once he was running in cleaner air.
“When I started driving more on my own, I had a lot of graining on the tyres.”
“I also had problems with the brakes pulling to one side, and the steering didn’t feel very good.”
Although Verstappen finished nearly one minute behind race winner George Russell of Mercedes, he pointed out that there were still some positives to take from the weekend.
“This was the first time we raced with our own engine, so we can’t complain too much,” Verstappen said.
“I was able to overtake a lot of cars, which shows there is power in the engine.”
However, Verstappen admitted that Red Bull still has significant work ahead if it wants to challenge at the front of the field during the 2026 Formula 1 season.
“Right now we can’t really compete at the front.”
“It’s not only about the engine. We still need to take a step forward with the car as well.”
The Australian Grand Prix highlighted both the strengths and limitations of Red Bull’s new package as the team continues its development work ahead of the next round of the 2026 Formula 1 World Championship.
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Baca Juga
Red Bull menjelaskan kesalahan teknis yang membuat Max Verstappen dan Isack Hadjar memulai GP Australia 2026 tanpa energi baterai.
Max Verstappen menyamakan duel di GP Australia 2026 seperti Mario Kart setelah bangkit dari belakang hingga finis keenam.
Mercedes mengawali F1 2026 dengan finis satu-dua di GP Australia, memicu kekhawatiran rival soal potensi dominasi musim ini.
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