Max Verstappen 2026: Results, Retirements and Radio
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Max Verstappen's 2026 season, measured: no wins yet, four retirements, and a Red Bull that is getting faster
Max Verstappen has not won a Grand Prix in 2026 and has retired four times, but he scored 84 race points in the last seven rounds against 49 in the first seven. Every race, every retirement, and what he said on the radio.
Max Verstappen started the 2026 season from twentieth on the grid, after his rear axle locked on his first flying lap in Melbourne and put him into the wall. He finished sixth.
That set the tone for the first half of his year. Fourteen rounds in, he has no wins, four retirements and 145 points, sixth in the championship. But the numbers split cleanly in two: 49 race points in the first seven rounds, 84 in the last seven, with five podiums from Austria onward. The Red Bull is getting faster, and his radio says he knows exactly how far it still has to go.
Every message he exchanged with his engineer on air this season, from the Canadian Grand Prix onward, is on
, with the audio and a transcript coloured by who is speaking.
Every race of his 2026 season
The first seven rounds:
Round
Grand Prix
Started
Finished
1
Australian
20th
6th
2
Chinese
8th
Retired
3
Japanese
11th
8th
4
Miami
2nd
5th
5
Canadian
6th
3rd
6
Monaco
2nd
Retired, lap 1
7
Barcelona
5th
4th
Grand Prix results only. Sprint results are below.
The next seven:
Round
Grand Prix
Started
Finished
8
Austrian
5th
2nd
9
British
7th
Retired, lap 48
10
Belgian
2nd
3rd
11
Hungarian
4th
2nd
12
Dutch
7th
Retired, lap 1
13
Italian
5th
3rd
14
Spanish (Madrid)
3rd
2nd
Starting positions are the grid after penalties.
The season in numbers
0 wins, and 6 podiums: third in Canada, second in Austria, third at Spa, second in Hungary, third at Monza, second in Madrid.
4 retirements, in China, Monaco, Silverstone and at his home race in Zandvoort.
145 points, 133 from Grands Prix and 12 from sprints, sixth in the championship.
49 race points in rounds 1 to 7, 84 in rounds 8 to 14. In the second half he finished on the podium in every race he finished.
His sprints: ninth in China, fifth in Miami, seventh in Canada, sixth at Silverstone, sixth at Zandvoort.
Four retirements, four different causes
China, a car failure. His Red Bull lost power with ten laps to go after an energy recovery system coolant failure. He had dropped to fourteenth on the first lap and fought back to sixth.
Monaco, before the race had really started. The engine was misbehaving on the formation lap, and when he dropped the clutch at the start it simply died. He fell from second to last, crawled around one lap, and retired. His radio as it happened:
"What should I do?" He lives in Monaco, and afterwards told reporters he was going home: it was only 500 metres.
Silverstone, a spin. On lap 48 he lost the rear of the car at Stowe and stopped in the gravel, bringing out the safety car.
Zandvoort, the last Dutch Grand Prix. Heavy rain in the hour before the start left the circuit damp, and his home race ended in a high-speed accident on the opening lap. It was the final Formula 1 race at Zandvoort.
The second half
From Austria onward, the picture changed. Second in Austria, third at Spa, second in Hungary, third at Monza, second in Madrid. After Spa his engineer told him what the whole team was thinking:
The engineer: "The pace is getting better... we have more coming." Verstappen: "It's a tiny bit unlucky, but it's still a good podium."
In Hungary he finished second, and his engineer called it "an excellent drive, really, really, really spot on".
At Monza he was blunter about the car than anyone at Red Bull would be in a press release:
"It is a very nice podium. You can see clearly our weaknesses here." His Monza radio, and the rest of that weekend's, is collected in the Italian GP 2026 team radio.
On the radio
Verstappen has 59 broadcast messages this season from Canada onward, fourth behind Kimi Antonelli, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. He is also one of the two drivers with the most censored lines on air, level with Antonelli on four. The full count is in what F1 drivers actually say on the radio.
What is left
Nine rounds remain, starting with Baku on 26 September. Verstappen is 147 points behind the leader, Kimi Antonelli, with 233 still available, so a title would need Antonelli's season to fall apart. What is more open is whether the car that has been on the podium in every race it finished since Austria can win one before the season ends. The championship leader's season is measured in Kimi Antonelli's 2026, and Verstappen's longer rivalry in Lando Norris vs Max Verstappen.
What this measures, and what it does not
Results, grid positions and points come from Formula 1's official timing data and match the championship standings after the Spanish Grand Prix.
The radio count is what Formula 1 broadcast, not everything said. Our 2026 radio begins at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Quotes are taken only from lines where the speaker label and the words agree. Where a transcript mixes the engineer's words into the driver's line, we have quoted only the part that is clearly one person's.
Frequently asked questions
Has Max Verstappen won a race in 2026?
Not in the first fourteen rounds. His best results are second places in Austria, Hungary and the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid.
Why did Max Verstappen retire at Monaco in 2026?
His engine failed at the start. It was behaving strangely on the formation lap and died when he dropped the clutch, so he fell from second to last and retired after one lap.
Where is Max Verstappen in the 2026 championship?
Sixth, on 145 points after the Spanish Grand Prix, 147 behind the leader Kimi Antonelli.
Why did Max Verstappen start 20th in Australia in 2026?
He crashed on his first flying lap in qualifying when the rear axle locked under braking into turn 1, so he set no time and started twentieth, ahead only of Carlos Sainz and Lance Stroll, who did not run. He finished the race sixth.
Sources
Race and sprint results, grid positions and points: Formula 1 timing data via FastF1, matching the championship standings published after the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix
Every radio message quoted: our own team radio archive
Hear the next one live
"What should I do?" is not something you normally hear from Max Verstappen. It went out live, on lap one in Monaco.
The Formula Dream app plays live driver radio as it is broadcast, transcript beside the audio, and collects every FIA document of the weekend as the stewards publish it, including the decisions that follow a crash or a disputed move. There is also a live timing Dashboard, currently in beta.
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Nineteen Chinese Grands Prix have been held in Shanghai since 2004. Lewis Hamilton won six, pole won twelve, and in 2026 Kimi Antonelli took the first win of his career there, at 19, with Hamilton on the podium for Ferrari for the first time. Every winner, grid slot and safety car, measured.
Max VerstappenRed Bull · Belgian Grand Prix 2026 · Race · 16:30:33 local
DriverYeah, good job guys. It's
Engineerthe
Driverlast podium. We're unlucky with that VSC, but it's all good. Well
Engineerdone Max. The pace is getting better, you were very strong as you say. Unlucky for P2, but it's close enough to the top and we have more coming. So, thanks for bearing with us.
DriverYeah, exactly that. It's a tiny bit unlucky, but it's still a good podium.
Max VerstappenRed Bull · Hungarian Grand Prix 2026 · Race · 16:45:05 local
EngineerThat is an excellent drive Max, really, really, really spot on. I'd like to be a C-Sprog to your showpiece finale, but nonetheless, I'm going to be proud of that final sit. That's a great move there as well, so fantastic job.
DriverYeah, we had a second today in some way or another. Great job. Well, it's been quite a lot out there, so...
