Red Bull is already considering redirecting a significant part of its resources towards its 2027 car, as the difficulties of the current car continue to limit Max Verstappen’s ambitions.
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The four-time world champion keeps pointing out the weaknesses of the RB26, while regularly managing to secure podiums.
At the same time, speculation about his future and the exit clauses in his contract persist, while Red Bull seeks to convince him to commit for the long term.
A transition to 2027 earlier than expected
Team principal Laurent Mekies acknowledges that Red Bull will soon have to make a choice between continuing the development of the current car or focusing more of its efforts on the 2027 project.
“At some point, we will have to decide how to allocate our resources between this season and the next,” he explained. “I think this will happen earlier than last year, especially because of the current regulations. We will then make a definitive decision.”
Mekies points out that Red Bull has already brought an unusually high number of upgrades this season to try to close the gap: “It is hard to imagine that we can maintain this development pace. We still need to find the best way to recover those three tenths we are missing.”
The former Ferrari engineer also acknowledges that Red Bull has suffered for several seasons from an extremely narrow operating window: “It is obviously not our goal to continue working with such a difficult-to-drive car. We listen to Max, but we have to be very careful about compromises that can affect performance.”
Verstappen feels what the sensors do not see
Mekies also confirmed recent remarks by technical director Pierre Waché, according to which Verstappen is able to detect car behaviors that completely escape the team’s analysis tools.
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“Max feels things that we are unable to measure with our sensors or data analysis,” explains the French technical director. “It is the result of his extraordinary sensitivity behind the wheel and his very high technical level. I would dare say that most other teams would not even notice the phenomena Max feels, while we do not see them in the data.”
For Mekies, this is precisely what makes the difference: “It is his great advantage. It is also why he is the driving force behind this team’s successes. We are here to win.”
Verstappen, for his part, refuses to be satisfied with mere podiums: “It’s nice, of course, but it doesn’t excite me. We are not here to make TikTok videos or have fun. We are only here to win.”
Hadjar frustrated by the strategy in Hungary
His teammate Isack Hadjar also acknowledged that the Red Bull was particularly difficult to drive in Hungary: “We didn’t find any setup that made the car really drivable.”
The Frenchman also expressed frustration with his team’s strategy, which used him to slow down the Ferraris and McLarens to favor Verstappen’s race: “It was very annoying. I wanted to stop very early or very late, but we made our stop at the worst possible moment. I don’t like to hinder the race leaders.”
While he understands the reasons for this decision, Hadjar would prefer not to find himself in this situation again: “I know why we do this, but I would like to avoid this kind of scenario in the future.”
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