Max Verstappen accuses Toto Wolff of ‘diversion tactics’ over Red Bull RB22 speed

Max Verstappen brushed off the claims made by Toto Wolff, regarding the Red Bull RB22, as “diversion tactics” from the Mercedes boss.

Wolff has named Red Bull the “benchmark” out of the gate in Formula 1’s new era, the team’s very first engine – developed in partnership with Ford – catching Wolff’s eye. According to Wolff, Red Bull is able to deploy more energy down the straights than rivals, worth “a second a lap.” Verstappen was giving Wolff’s comments a wide berth.

Max Verstappen accuses Toto Wolff of ‘diversion tactics’

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Engine talk has dominated the F1 2026 pre-season. From the Mercedes compression ratio saga, to Red Bull turning heads, the battle between teams and manufacturers has reached boiling point before a wheel has even been turned outside of pre-season.

Rivals have formed a united front against Mercedes, which has allegedly found a way to confirm to the new, lower engine compression ratio of 16.0, to be measured at ambient temperature, yet achieve a higher ratio at track temperature.

Reports on this subject over the off-season also pointed to Red Bull, though it appears that Red Bull has joined the Mercedes opposition in advocating for the introduction of testing compression ratios at hot temperatures.

Speaking on the opening day of Bahrain testing, Wolff had talked up the work of Red Bull on its new engine and challenger, the RB22, which he described as the “benchmark” package.

Red Bull’s four-time World Champion, Max Verstappen, was asked by PlanetF1.com’s Thomas Maher for his reaction to Wolff naming Red Bull as the standard of the F1 2026 grid.

“I mean, let’s look back at the last 10 years of winter testing. I don’t think you can say who is the World Champion on day one, especially with a new rule set like this,” said Verstappen.

“For me personally, it’s more just like diversion tactics.

“But that’s okay. I focus on what we’re doing here with the team, because honestly, for us, there’s still so much to learn, these new rules that is so complex.

“We just want to do our laps and, just go from there, to be honest.”

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But, regardless of whether any games are being played or not, there is no debating that the Red Bull engine has been impressive.

The Red Bull Powertrains Ford operation was formed from scratch, so there was an expectation that it would be a work in progress when its first engine was sent into F1 battle.

Yet, the engine has thus far proven reliable, and crucially, competitive.

Verstappen was asked whether he expected such a good start for the Red Bull Ford engine, and whether he believes it can be an F1 2026 race-winning engine.

“I mean, you never know, right?

“I mean, of course, I visited the factory. I mean, it’s next to the car, so you see what they’re doing. They have all the tools. And of course, also the people working there, they have good experience.

“But I think the start that we have had is just, yeah, very nice. And everyone is very happy with that. The lap counter we did yesterday [136 laps], for example, that’s just great. That’s exactly what we want to do. But it’s not a given.

“But at the same time, they have worked, of course, for many years now, to try and be here and be ready.

“But if it’s going to be enough to win, I don’t know. You don’t have a clue at the moment if that’s the case.

“Also, what you see here now in testing, you won’t see in Melbourne for many cars, many engines as well. And it’s normal, of course, that other people are hiding and trying to probably make us look really good.

“At the same time, we don’t care. We just focus on ourselves. We just try to do the best we can.

“But yeah, I’m happy, of course, with how everything started, but there’s still such a massive room for improvement at the same time as well, because of how complicated everything is.”

Despite the encouraging start to F1 2026 for Red Bull, Verstappen has given a far from glowing assessment of the new F1 regulations, calling them “anti-racing.”

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