"Super-Dangerous": Verstappen's Fury After Second Rear Wing Failure Ends British GP

"Super-Dangerous" and "Fed Up": Verstappen's Reaction

Verstappen's immediate response over team radio was explosive. Reports captured him saying, "I'm stuck, mate. F*** this car, fu**** unbelievable," before adding, "F**k this" . After climbing from the cockpit, his anger hardened into something more pointed. He told the BBC the repeated failure was "super-dangerous" and that he felt lucky to walk away unhurt both times . "I was lucky in Austria, I was lucky here. That's why you get really fed up with it," he said .

According to motorsport.com, Verstappen indicated he had little interest in holding further talks with Red Bull at that moment, implying his concerns after Austria had not been adequately addressed . The BBC reported that he felt the team should have fixed the issue after the first failure and that allowing it to recur was unacceptable at Formula 1's highest level .

Championship Blow: 7th Place and 103 Points Back

The crash, combined with Verstappen's earlier DNF in Austria, has dropped him to 7th place in the 2026 Drivers' Championship after 9 of 22 rounds. Post-race standings from Formula1.com, the Independent, and SI.com show the following top-7 :

Verstappen sits 103 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli . With 13 races remaining and a maximum of 26 points available per win, closing that gap — particularly while fundamental reliability issues remain unsolved — is effectively impossible.

Red Bull's Response: Apology and Urgent Redesign

Team principal Laurent Mekies, who took over Red Bull Racing after Christian Horner's dismissal in July 2025 , publicly apologized to Verstappen and confirmed that the crash was directly caused by a second consecutive rear-wing failure . Mekies acknowledged the design flaw is recurring and that the team is urgently investigating the root cause .

News reports indicate Red Bull is now considering a redesign or replacement of the rear-wing mechanism before the next race, as running the same specification at a third weekend carries unacceptable safety risk . Insiders have told the BBC that Mekies is prioritizing a structural fix to the DRS actuation or wing-closing mechanism to prevent a third occurrence .

The key uncertainty: it remains unclear whether a permanent fix will be ready for the next round in Belgium, or whether the team will need to revert to an older wing specification as a temporary measure.

Mekies, who has emphasized his engineering background since taking charge, has been overseeing a push to strengthen the team's processes and become more responsive to driver feedback . Whether that shift comes quickly enough to salvage Verstappen's season — or prevent a third high-speed failure — will define the next chapter for both driver and team.