max is playing mario kart and losing

seventh. max verstappen is seventh in the championship. winless in the rb22. a hundred and one points behind kimi antonelli.

if you told 2023 me this i'd have laughed. four titles, the most dominant car anyone's seen, and then the 2026 rules dropped and red bull just... can't. active aero, overtake mode instead of drs, red bull building their own engine with ford for the first time. new everything. and max hates it — he straight up compared this championship to mario kart and floated walking away from the sport.

here's what i respect: he's not pretending. no pr-speak about "building for the future." he says the car's bad, the rules are silly, and he might leave. that's the most max thing possible.

i'll still watch every race. rooting for a great driver in a bad car is its own kind of loyalty.