After a very difficult start to the year, Red Bull has regained momentum in Miami. Laurent Mekies revealed the major changes made to the RB to restore confidence to Max Verstappen and his team.
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Used to dominating Formula 1 in recent seasons, Red Bull had started this 2026 campaign painfully. The Milton Keynes team struggled to keep up with the pace set by Mercedes during the first three rounds, with a car considered unstable and difficult to exploit.
Even Max Verstappen, four-time world champion, had made several remarks about the unpredictable behavior of the car. The Dutchman notably pointed out a lack of consistency in the RB’s reactions, which, according to him, was unable to provide enough confidence to fully attack.
But in Miami, Red Bull showed a completely different face. Verstappen secured an encouraging fifth place, the best result of the team this season, showing early positive signs.
Laurent Mekies reveals the work done behind the scenes
Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies explained that this performance boost was not by chance. After the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka, the engineers conducted a thorough analysis of the data collected since the beginning of the year.
The goal was clear: to make the car more predictable and easier to drive.
“After Suzuka, we told ourselves that, regardless of the overall performance deficit compared to the end of last season, the main problem was that we were not providing a sufficiently consistent car to our drivers” explains Mekies.
“They did not have a car in which they could attack with confidence, corner after corner and lap after lap.”
This realization pushed Red Bull to review several technical elements during the long five-week break between Suzuka and Miami.
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A huge time loss identified by Red Bull
According to Mekies, the drivers’ lack of confidence was costing the team a huge amount of pure performance.
“We knew we were losing a lot of time per lap because of this lack of confidence in the car” he admits.
Among the targeted areas, the steering behavior was particularly studied. But other problematic zones were also identified by the engineers.
“The steering was one of the sensitive points, but there were also several other aspects on which we still need to work” continues the Frenchman.
Red Bull insists, however, that the classic development of the car continued in parallel. The team worked both on aerodynamic upgrades and on the overall improvement of the car’s behavior.
Verstappen more comfortable ahead of Canada
The progress seen in Miami has already allowed Max Verstappen to regain more confidence behind the wheel, an essential element to fully exploit the potential of a modern Formula 1 car.
Even if the gap with Mercedes remains significant in the championship, Red Bull now hopes to confirm this improvement at the next round in Canada.
The Gilles Villeneuve circuit has often been successful for the Austrian team in the past, with five wins achieved on the Montreal track. A context that could allow Verstappen to continue this comeback after a much more difficult start to the season than expected.
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