Laurent Mekies optimistic about Red Bull in 2026: "We are developing in the right direction"

While Max Verstappen had already hinted at the return of speed for Red Bull In Miami, the Canadian Grand Prix allowed him to climb onto his first podium of the season, after a more difficult start to the year than expected for the Dutchman. As for Isack Hadjar – having recovered from the frustration of Florida – his fifth-place finish put an end to a series of retirements that was beginning to affect the Frenchman's confidence.

“If we take a broader view, I see, at the very least, that we have confirmed the progress made in Miami,” Laurent Mekies stated after the Grand Prix"I think we did a little more than we managed in Miami, in the sense that we succeeded in further reducing the performance gap with the best."

Keen to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Red Bulls are constantly improving in performance, the Frenchman used the most objective indicator: the lap time at the end of the weekend. “If you look at the lap times, we were three tenths of a second behind in qualifying, but I think during the Grand Prix we were a little closer than the half-second deficit we were in Miami,” explains the head of the Austrian team. In Miami, we finished 40 seconds behind the winner. Clearly, it was closer in Montreal.

Red Bull's weaknesses remain clear.

As it stands, one major area for improvement remains to be developed. Although Red Bull seems to be managing to adjust the weight of its carThe rigidity of the track has been repeatedly identified as a problem by drivers in Montreal. In other words, it reduces the ability of Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar to use the kerbs with the freedom they would like.

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“These observations need to be put into perspective. There’s no reason to get carried away, as this is a track where we expected to perform well. This circuit is more forgiving in certain aspects of our car,” Laurent Mekies summarizesThat said, I think, once again, that we have confirmed our progress. Our drivers managed to achieve more performance, and a better result as a result. Considering that the competition benefited from another round of updates this weekend, I think this simply confirms that we are heading in the right direction with development.

On the streets of Monaco, on a track quite different from Montreal's, Isack Hadjar seemed to drop some hints. According to him, Red Bull could still perform well, but one question remains unknown for the team: How much will the other top teams have improved by then?