Red Bull didn’t just “improve” the car after a rough early stretch of 2026. The team says it has fixed a steering column problem that was throwing off Max Verstappen in the opening rounds, and the timing matters: Miami is the next real stage for credibility, and the Dutchman needs the steering to feel consistent before the championship narrative slips any further.
According to the team, the issue was present in the first phases of 2026 and was tied to how the steering system responded to corner inputs, creating inconsistency in driving and making it harder for Verstappen to adapt to the car’s setup. As part of our Formula 1 coverage, we track these technical turnarounds closely at Jogo Hoje.
What Red Bull corrected on Verstappen’s car
Let’s get technical, because this is where the real story lives. Red Bull’s explanation points to the steering column and the surrounding hardware that supports it. In other words, this wasn’t a quick tweak to make the wheel “feel nicer” for a lap or two. The team says the cure required a complete replacement of the steering column along with the support components, aiming to wipe out any remaining irregularities in the system.
The key detail for understanding the performance impact is the chain reaction: when the steering system doesn’t translate input cleanly, the driver’s response to the steering wheel becomes a moving target. That affects confidence mid-corner, how the front end loads up, and ultimately the dynamic behavior the driver is trying to exploit lap after lap.
When the problem appeared and why it took so long
Verstappen says he recognized the issue early. He claims he noticed the problem as far back as the shakedown in Barcelona in January, even before the main calendar got properly underway. That’s the part that makes you raise an eyebrow: if the symptom was there in January, why wasn’t it nailed down immediately?
Red Bull’s director of technical operations, Pierre Waché, offers the answer with an engineering lens. The problem in the direction system was detected before the April break, “a little before” in his words. The pause then became the practical bridge: it allowed the team to produce the parts needed for a full replacement. Without that window, Waché suggests the team wouldn’t have had the components to repair everything properly after the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia events.
So this wasn’t just “late discovery.” It was a mix of diagnostics complexity and logistics of getting the right hardware when the calendar doesn’t exactly wait for engineers to catch up.
What changed in practice for Verstappen’s driving
When Verstappen says he can “drive normally again,” that’s not marketing fluff. It’s a straight performance statement. In top-level F1, steering feel is not cosmetic; it’s feedback. If the cremalheira and the rest of the steering system aren’t delivering stable, predictable loads to the driver’s hands, the driver compensates. And compensation is costly because it changes how you place the car on the edge.
Red Bull also frames the fix as more than a single-piece swap. The team indicates there were changes to help the car’s response to the steering wheel across different situations on track, including revisions that connect the steering behavior with the wider car’s setup. That matters because the system doesn’t exist alone. It sits inside a web of suspension geometry, aerodynamic load paths, and mechanical compliance.
In plain terms: if the steering input-to-response relationship is corrected, Verstappen can stop “fighting the wheel” and start using it as a tool for precision. That usually shows up fastest in corner entry consistency and mid-corner steering corrections—exactly the areas where inconsistency is most punishing.
Why the solution was more complex than it looked
Verstappen’s quote about the diagnosis being harder than it sounded is the most honest part of the whole update. “We thought only about the steering column,” he said, but many things have to line up, including aerodynamics. Suspension is designed to be optimal from an aerodynamic perspective, so external factors always creep in. That’s the reality of modern F1: even a steering column issue can masquerade as a wider behavior problem for the driver.
Here’s the tactical takeaway. If the steering input response was inconsistent, you can’t just adjust the driver-facing part and hope the lap time appears. You need to ensure the full steering system and its integration with the rest of the package produce a predictable dynamic behavior. That’s why Red Bull went beyond a micro-adjustment and replaced the steering column and support components completely.
And yes, the delay now reads like a correction of a deeper root cause, not a cosmetic patch. That’s the kind of engineering discipline we want to see after a messy start.
What to watch from Red Bull at the Canada GP
The next reference point is the GP of Canada, scheduled for May 22 to 24. This is where the credibility of the fix gets tested under sustained braking zones, changing grip, and the kind of steering demands that punish even small inconsistencies in the steering system.
We’ll be watching whether Verstappen’s steering corrections look more repeatable from run to run, and whether Red Bull’s car’s setup translates into a calmer, more coherent front-end response. If the wheel-to-car relationship is truly corrected, the team should see a reduction in “settling” time during stints and better stability when the tires start to drift.
Also, keep an eye on whether Red Bull can keep the same feel when they chase different balance targets. A proper fix should make the car easier to tune, not harder. That’s the real test of whether this was a full engineering correction or a temporary bandage.
O Veredito Jogo Hoje
Red Bull’s move reads like a grown-up technical reset: instead of polishing symptoms, they replaced the steering column and the support components tied to the steering system response. If Verstappen truly feels the response to the steering wheel return to normal, that’s not just comfort for a driver—it’s a foundation for faster setup evolution, cleaner feedback loops, and fewer compromises in the car’s setup. In Miami, we might still see edges, but Canada will tell us whether this was a real performance unlock or just a well-timed correction.
Perguntas Frequentes
Qual foi exatamente o problema na direção da Red Bull?
Red Bull says the issue was in the steering system response to corner inputs, linked to the steering column and related support components. Verstappen also pointed to the problem being noticeable since the shakedown in Barcelona in January, affecting how consistently the car reacted to steering inputs.
Por que a equipe demorou para resolver a falha?
The team detected the problem before the April break, but the full correction required producing the correct parts. Red Bull states the pause helped them manufacture components for a complete replacement; otherwise, they claim the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia weekends would have limited what they could fix fully.
A correção pode mudar o desempenho de Verstappen nas próximas corridas?
It can, because steering consistency directly impacts confidence, corner-entry precision, and how quickly the driver can adapt to the acerto do carro and track conditions. If the cremalheira and the overall steering system now deliver a stable response to the steering wheel, Verstappen should get a more predictable dynamic behavior baseline, which usually accelerates performance tuning.
