Max Verstappen ‘best on the grid’ but Red Bull trails Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren

Max Verstappen may be the “best on the grid”, but based on pre-season testing, David Croft reckons Red Bull will need “two Maxes” to wrap up the championship double.

That’s because he believes Red Bull is only fourth best behind Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari.

David Croft says Red Bull fourth behind Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren

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Just seven days before Formula 1 finally turns a wheel in anger in the F1 2026 championship and the pecking order is anyone’s guess.

Although Ferrari set the pace in the final outing in Bahrain, Charles Leclerc’s 1:31.992 putting him eight-tenths ahead of Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli and a further 0.06s tenths up on Oscar Piastri, no one knows the engine modes, fuel loads or programmes the teams were doing.

Was Ferrari running light? Was Mercedes sandbagging? Was Red Bull, only P5 on the log with Max Verstappen 1.2s down, deploying less energy?

Teams can surmise, especially in longer runs when the cars are heavily fuelled, but even then, a 20-lap stint is not a 60-lap grand prix. So again, was the car fuelled for 20 or 60 laps?

It is a guessing game, one with added parameters this season given the new engines with their boost and overtake modes.

While Melbourne’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix will offer the first clue, it’s just that, a clue. The nature of the Albert Park circuit means the winner in Australia will not necessarily be the winner in Abu Dhabi.

Added to that, racing new cars means development will play a massive role in this year’s championship which could be turned on its head depending on who spends big at the beginning of the season and who holds off until later in the year.

It has meant rivals have talked up one another throughout testing, Mercedes billed as the favourite, then Red Bull and more recently Ferrari with its epic starts.

But while no one truly has any idea, Sky pundit Croft believes of the leading four – Mercedes, McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull – it is the latter who is on the back foot. Not so much because of the car, but because it needs “two Maxes” to truly challenge for the titles.

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This season Verstappen has a new teammate Isack Hadjar, who suffered the bulk of Red Bull’s reliability woes that left him off the pace in 15th place. His 1:34.260 was 2.3s down on Leclerc’s pace-setting time.

“On current form,” Croft told Sky F1, “Max is the best on the grid, hands down the best on the grid and he showed that early last year.

“In Japan, when Red Bull weren’t the fastest car, but he dominated that weekend and won a superb race from a brilliant pole. Max does make all the difference.

“I don’t think the Red Bull car is the fastest car.

I mean, I could be wrong here, but my pecking order is Mercedes, McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull as a top four, but very close together.

“But that Red Bull being fourth is probably Isack Hadjar and Max Verstappen together. Max is probably kind of number two, I would imagine.

“Or if it was two Maxes, Red Bull would be number two, if that makes sense.

“He just has a feel for understanding at every given moment what he needs to do and how he needs to excel and he stops at nothing to make sure that he goes out and absolutely dominates.

“I love watching Max Verstappen approach a grand prix weekend. He is a fabulous talent. He really is.”

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