Red Bull Racing faces a quite complicated start to the 2026 Formula 1 season, and Laurent Mekies acknowledged that the team is still far from the leaders. The team principal admitted that the gap to Mercedes is significant and that the work is now focused on reducing this disadvantage.
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Speaking about the current scenario, Mekies highlighted that there isn’t just one specific weak point in the car. According to him, the challenge involves improvements in all areas, as the team tries to evolve to reach the level of the competitors.
“Look, we think it’s 360 degrees. We don’t believe there is one specific area to focus on. That in itself is already an incredible achievement. The fact that the power unit is not identified as a specific weakness, but just an area like any other that needs to improve to reach the level of the ‘benchmark’, which today is Mercedes, is already an incredible achievement,” he stated.
Despite the current gap, Mekies also highlighted Red Bull’s progress in recent years, especially with the development of the power unit through Red Bull Powertrains-Ford. The executive highlighted that the project was built from scratch and that the evolution already represents an important step forward for the team.
“The fact that this power unit didn’t exist three or four years ago, the factory didn’t exist, we didn’t have people, and now we have seven hundred people there, is significant. We have this incredible partnership with Ford and we went to the first race and everything felt very normal. The only thing we are looking at is the gap to first place,” he said.
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Mekies acknowledged that the current distance is still considerable, but reinforced that all efforts are directed towards reducing it. According to him, the team is focused on understanding which areas need to evolve to return to competing for the top positions.
The executive also explained that the decision to prolong the development of the 2025 car’s chassis, in an attempt to help Max Verstappen pursue the title, which ultimately did not happen, had a direct impact on the current project. This, according to him, brought consequences at the start of the season, but is part of the team’s growth process.
“So it’s not just one area. We took the chassis development very far last year. We paid the price in the early phase of the season. The engine project is very new. The team did an incredible job, but we accept that the competition is at a better level now,” he added.
The team principal concluded by stating that the season will be marked by learning and continuous evolution. Currently, Red Bull occupies sixth position in the constructors’ championship, 119 points behind Mercedes, the leader in the constructors’ standings.
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