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Red Bull seeks cause of rear-downforce loss on Verstappen’s RB22 in Brazil

Conceptual AI-generated editorial motorsport illustration; not a documentary photograph or evidence that a pictured event, meeting or transfer occurred. · 2026-11-12GPBeat newsroom · News Made Clear generated illustration

Red Bull’s data showed a loss of rear downforce on Verstappen’s RB22; Laurent Mekies said the team still needed to establish the cause and assess how much the balance issue explained its time loss.

From the GPBeat newsroomPublished · · 1 min

Max Verstappen climbed from 21st on the grid to second at Interlagos in the São Paulo Grand Prix, but Red Bull’s data showed a loss of rear downforce on his RB22 during the race. Team principal Laurent Mekies said after the race that further analysis was needed to establish the cause.

Verstappen was fifth when the first frontrunners pitted for slicks at the end of lap 16. He said the car’s balance no longer felt the same after that switch, but the slicks were not the whole explanation: the RB22 also felt very different from the opening stages in the closing laps on intermediates.

Mekies said Red Bull still needed to work out how much the balance issue explained its time loss, and whether the car would have had enough pace to fight McLaren.

Sources 01
  1. SOURCEHow Max Verstappen beat Red Bull's own simulation tools with P2 in BrazilMotorsport.com F1