Red Bull admits Verstappen's rear-axle issue can't be fixed until 2027

Red Bull has admitted that a persistent fault affecting Max Verstappen's Formula 1 car cannot be fully resolved until 2027, according to Autosport.

The problem has surfaced across several race weekends this season, with Verstappen repeatedly complaining that the RB22 worsens as a qualifying session or grand prix wears on.

He has traced the fault to instability around the rear axle, describing it as a recurring issue rather than a one-off quirk confined to a single circuit.

It was at its most pronounced during qualifying at Monza, where Verstappen memorably described the RB22 as "a car made of paper" while battling with its balance.

The four-time world champion made clear the complaint was nothing new, saying he has been raising the same underlying concern with Red Bull internally for years.

Red Bull's acknowledgment that a complete fix is not possible until 2027 indicates the team views the fault as rooted in the fundamentals of the current car rather than something correctable through further in-season updates.

For Verstappen, that leaves the handling issue as a factor he will continue to manage at race weekends for the remainder of the campaign, with no suggestion from the team that a resolution is imminent.

Autosport's report frames the admission as a rare public acknowledgment from Red Bull of a problem Verstappen has been flagging behind the scenes for an extended period.

With the team pointing to 2027 as the point at which the issue can finally be addressed, Verstappen and Red Bull face working around the fault rather than eliminating it for the rest of this season.