Red Bull sporting director Laurent Mekies says he is “confident” the team can deliver a faster car for Max Verstappen as the 2026 Formula 1 season continues.
Verstappen has voiced frustration with F1’s new regulations and even said he has considered walking away from the sport, while on track he has struggled for form. For the first time since 2017 he has gone three straight races without a top-five finish; at Suzuka he was eliminated in Q2 and recovered to eighth in the race.
With the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix cancelled, April contains no races, giving Red Bull time to run simulations and tunnel work. “We need the time to simulate back what we see in the data into the tunnel, into our simulator, try some sensitivities and all of that we can do without racing,” Mekies said. He cautioned that Miami will not be a miraculous fix but expects the team to begin bringing improvements there in early May. “I am confident that the team will get to the bottom of that understanding and start bringing improvements already in Miami,” he added, while warning the gap to the frontrunners is “substantial” and miracles should not be expected.
Mekies stressed the aim is to give drivers cars they can push again so they can measure performance when able to maximise pace. “By the time we give him a car he can push and make the difference with, he will also be a happier Max,” he said, noting that current conversations focus entirely on performance. He also said there have been “zero discussions” with Verstappen about his future.
Verstappen has been outspoken about the current package. Red Bull sit sixth in the Constructors’ Championship and Verstappen is ninth in the Drivers’ standings after challenging for a fifth consecutive title last year. At the Japanese Grand Prix he spent much of the race duelling Alpine’s Pierre Gasly for seventh but felt battery deployment rules and an unpredictable balance hampered his progress. “This is not sustainable for us as a team. We need to work hard to understand our problems and bring improvements,” he told Sky Sports F1. “A lot of drivers are speaking out on it. That’s the biggest one for me.”
Red Bull had expected a tough season with its new power unit, developed with Ford, but Mekies says the bigger issues appear to be chassis and aero rather than engine power. The team showed some promise in Australia—Verstappen recovered from a Q1 crash and 20th on the grid to finish sixth, while Isack Hadjar qualified third—but they suffered setbacks in China, scoring no Sprint points and losing Verstappen from the Grand Prix to a coolant failure. Mekies estimated the team is “about one second to the best guys and half a second to the best Ferraris” and acknowledged a step back in China compared to Australia.
Formula 1 returns with the Miami Grand Prix on May 1-3, the season’s second Sprint weekend.