After a very difficult start to the season, Red Bull seems to have regained its colors in Miami. Laurent Mekies even believes that the progress shown by the RB22 is a strong signal for the rest of the championship.
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The Miami Grand Prix marked an encouraging turning point for Red Bull. Long struggling since the start of the 2026 season, the Austrian team showed much clearer signs of progress in Florida, especially in an area where it had been particularly suffering until then: qualifying.
Laurent Mekies did not hide his satisfaction after the American weekend. The head of Red Bull believes that the reduced gap to pole position shows that the team is finally starting to understand some of the problems that had heavily penalized the RB22 since the first races.
The Frenchman recalled that the situation was still very difficult just a few weeks ago. In Suzuka, Max Verstappen was more than a second behind pole position, while the gap remained close to a second in China.
“Yes, there is clearly a step forward, Mekies explained. We left Japan 1.2 seconds behind pole, then about a second in China.”
A significant leap in qualifying
In Miami, the trend changed significantly. Even though Red Bull does not yet know exactly which session best reflects its real level, the observed figures remain much more encouraging than at the start of the season.
During Friday’s sprint qualifying, Verstappen conceded “only” six tenths to the best time. Then, during the main qualifying session on Saturday, the gap fell below two tenths.
For Mekies, this evolution represents a very important indicator of the work done at Milton Keynes during the long spring break.
“The competition obviously wasn’t going to wait for us with their own upgrades, the French executive recalled. Everyone improved their car, but we also knew that we had specific problems to solve and that there was time to gain.”
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Before adding: “Seeing the car six tenths off pole on Friday then less than two tenths on Saturday is a very strong indication of the progress made.”
Verstappen frustrated despite positive signs
Despite this visible improvement, the final result did not fully reflect Red Bull’s potential in Miami. Max Verstappen, who delivered a solid qualifying with a front-row spot, compromised his race from the first lap after a spin that dropped him back in the pack.
The team then tried a different strategy to recover, but the Dutchman ultimately finished fifth.
Nevertheless, Mekies remains convinced that the race pace was also much better than before. According to him, Red Bull probably had the tools to fight at the front behind the two leaders.
“The race pace also seemed solid, he analyzed. Not yet enough to aim for the top two places, but probably enough to fight between third and fifth position.”
Red Bull nevertheless refuses to get carried away
Even if the progress observed in Miami brings a breath of fresh air to the team, Laurent Mekies prefers to remain cautious. The head of Red Bull reminds that several weaknesses still remain on the RB22 and that the development battle continues to intensify among the top teams.
“We haven’t yet solved everything we wanted to fix, Mekies admitted. We know there is still potential to extract from our package.”
The Frenchman also knows that McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari will continue to bring new upgrades in the coming weeks, which will force Red Bull to maintain a very aggressive development pace to sustainably return to the fight for victories.
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