Red Bull is back fighting at the front with Max Verstappen, reaping the rewards of work on three fronts. The Milton Keynes team has brought the RB22 closer to the minimum weight, corrected its aerodynamic flaws, and fixed steering issues that the Dutch driver had reported since testing. The four-time world champion has thus regained confidence in the car, the same car he described as undrivable just a few weeks ago.
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Steering problems solved
The changes to the steering were revealed by Max Verstappen himself, who spoke about the RB22’s progress during the Miami weekend: “I said from the very first lap of testing in Barcelona that there was something wrong with the steering, but obviously it was very difficult to identify. Now, finally, it has been fixed”, the Dutchman’s words reported by Total-Motorsport. Max explains how Red Bull’s work was all-encompassing. “It wasn’t as simple as it seems. You think about the steering wheel, but there are a lot of things that have to fit together, including aerodynamics. In the end, the entire suspension is designed to be aerodynamically optimal, which is why many factors are involved that complicate things.”
In Miami, Red Bull did not declare any steering modifications, but it should be remembered that teams are not obliged to make public interventions that are not visible from the outside. One hypothesis is that the team improved the car’s response to steering inputs by intervening on the power steering hydraulics and/or managing the mechanical setup of the front suspension differently. For drivers, it is essential to rely on constant and predictable power steering support, so as to precisely dose the effort on the steering wheel. Charles Leclerc is a witness to this, as last year he reported problems with the power steering, whose response in high-speed corners did not transmit the right confidence at the wheel.
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The transformation of the RB22
The challenge in these cases is to provide the right support to the steering work, without filtering too much the forces transmitted from the front wheels to the driver’s hands. Last year Lando Norris struggled precisely with this aspect, pushing McLaren to make mechanical changes to improve the perception of the tires when they were close to locking under braking. Verstappen did not provide much information, without clarifying how much the problems he reported were related to the sensations perceived from the front wheels or if they concerned the effort on the steering wheel. Certainly, Red Bull needed a few races to tune this aspect, having changed the steering assembly a lot compared to 2025.
The RB22 differs from the previous design in the position of the steering arm, raised compared to the lower suspension elements. The layout also changed from pull-rod to push-rod, drastically reducing the inclination of the upper arms. These are all choices Red Bull made to manage the flows coming from the front wing towards the floor differently, on a car that is profoundly different aerodynamically. At the same time, however, the new steering and suspension configuration influenced the car’s dynamic response in corners, requiring a different management of steering forces. The team now seems to have found the right balance, also benefiting from aerodynamic updates and weight reduction, which have widened the car’s operating window, allowing more freedom on the mechanical setup. Slowly Red Bull is solving its problems, to the benefit of Verstappen’s confidence and his ability to push the RB22 to the limit.
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