Red Bull, Mekies explains the false start: “We are paying for the effort in 2025”

A Red Bull in the middle of the pack. Arriving at the summer break, every team principal must answer a very important question: “How do we allocate resources between the current season and the following one?”. The answer very often depends on the progress of the World Championship: for example in 2025 McLaren abandoned the development of the MCL39 early because the Constructors’ title had already been won, while the Drivers’ title seemed like a home game between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. It seemed like it, because Red Bull kept its foot down on developments until the last race, and sensationally returned to the race with Max Verstappen. Who only missed out on a historic feat against papayas by two points. The run-up to 2025 inevitably cost Red Bull something. The Milton Keynes team has in fact not started well in the new cycle of cars and, against all predictions, is lacking in what were once its strong points: chassis and aerodynamics. A step backwards that team principal Laurent Mekies explains precisely with the effort made up until a few months ago. Mekies’ words “The car wasn’t performing at the level we wanted, the pressure was high and a new team principal arrived mid-year: there was every reason in the world to think exclusively about 2026, also because a new generation of cars was starting”, these are the words of the Frenchman. “But none of us wanted to give up, everyone wanted to understand the root of our problems and turn the situation around. Of course, we knew we would pay a price, but this team has a deep fighting spirit.” “It was an easy decision to still focus on 2025. I had just arrived, yes, but no one wanted to give up. We took a huge risk, but we thought, and still think, that it was the right choice: focusing only on 2026 was an easy way out,” he continued. “It certainly has had an impact on 2026 and we are paying the price a little bit. But it’s not an excuse. We’re not happy with where we are but we will overcome these difficulties as we did last year.”