Laurent Mekies did not give the best news for Max Verstappen after second place at the Spanish Grand Prix of Formula 1, discussing Red Bull’s development in 2026.
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After the opening race in Madrid, the Austrian team’s director was pleased with the four-time world champion’s podium, calling it ‘exceptionally good’. However, the team still sees a pace deficit to fight for wins.
“Jokes aside, I don’t think we will explain what it is and how we will solve it. I think Max is right. There is an element of performance degradation of the car that occurs both during a session and in a race. He is right to say it is not a new problem. We are not ignoring the issue,” he said.
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“We have been trying to deal with this in different ways. Obviously, I consider it a complex issue; otherwise, we would have already gotten to the bottom of it. But everyone is approaching it very constructively, trying to take small steps at a time to finally get to the root of the problem,” he continued.
“We have made some positive steps in this regard this weekend. This does not represent the full picture, but certainly, at the cost of difficulties, we have advanced in our understanding. We do not yet have all the solutions implemented in the car, but I trust we are on the right path. It will not be a quick process; it is something that will probably accompany us until next year,” he added.
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