Red Bull’s technical director Pierre Wache has revealed what Max Verstappen now thinks of the RB22 after his first two victories in the 2026 F1 season.

After a tumultuous first half of the season that made it look like Max Verstappen was on his way out of Red Bull, the Austrian constructor has come through for their star driver and provided him with a car worthy of the podium’s top step.

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The four-time world champion now has a genuine chance of securing P2 in the drivers’ championship this year – a feat that looked to have been impossible during the opening stages of this season.

Verstappen was highly critical of the challenger Red Bull had provided him with during the tough spell, but the stark change in results has now forced him to change his mind, according to the Milton Keynes-based outfit’s lead aerodynamicist.

Pierre Wache says Max Verstappen is ‘happy’ with RB22, but wouldn’t say it’s ‘perfect’

As the current campaign has progressed, Red Bull have been the most aggressive team on the grid when looking at the amount of upgrades they have brought to their 2026 F1 car.

Ahead of this weekend’s United States Grand Prix, the RB22 has received 52 new upgrades over the course of 2026, according to F1 Dashboard – one more than McLaren with 51, and six more than Ferrari with 46.

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“We have certainly improved the situation in slow corners,” technical director Pierre Wache said in a recent interview with RacingNews365 regarding the RB22’s evolution.

“We introduced major updates in Miami, Austria and Baku, resulting in clear improvements. This has enabled us to take a significant step forward in the car’s development, both in terms of handling and overall performance.

“Previously, the car’s balance was sometimes quite critical. If we tried to improve the balance in fast corners, we’d then run into problems in slow corners, or vice versa. Now the car feels much more like a single, cohesive unit. That was definitely our aim.”

While their recent progress has been encouraging, the Frenchman knows there is still time to gain. Naturally, Verstappen’s pursuit of perfection has spurred Red Bull on to continue their aggressive development plan.

“We have made progress; we’re just clearly not quite there yet,” Wache continued, before adding: “Max is now happy with the car, though I don’t think he’d say the car is perfect if you asked him.

“What is clear is that during the sprint race we managed to get the most out of the car and take first place. However, with these regulations, it remains a tricky issue. I therefore think we still have plenty of scope to make further improvements.”