Red Bull boss Laurent Mequise is “confident” the team can provide Max Verstappen with a faster car for the remainder of the F1 season.
Verstappen is considering leaving the sport due to his dissatisfaction with F1’s new regulations, but he is also unable to compete at the forefront of the field.
Verstappen has raced three races in a row without finishing in the top five for the first time since 2017, with his latest disappointment coming at Suzuka on Saturday, where he was eliminated in Q2 but recovered to eighth in the race.
With no F1 races to be held in April due to the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian GPs, Mekies hopes Red Bull will take a “very good step” towards the next race in Miami in early May.
“We need time to simulate what we’re seeing in the data in tunnels and simulators and test sensitivities and do all the things we can do without racing,” Mekies said.
“Does that mean you came to Miami and miraculously solved everything? No, but again, I’m confident that the team will thoroughly understand that and start bringing improvements already in Miami. That’s what we’ll see, but only the track and lap times will give us an indicator of whether we’re going in the right direction.”
“I don’t think we should expect miracles in terms of closing the gap because it’s a big gap, but what we want to see is for the drivers to have a car that they can push again and when they can push, measure the difference between them and their rivals in these conditions. Now it’s just pure development until the end of the year.”
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A look back at Max Verstappen’s disappointing start to the 2026 F1 season
Verstappen: “Current Red Bull pace is not sustainable”
Red Bull sit sixth in the constructors’ championship, but Verstappen is only ninth in the drivers’ championship despite fighting for a record-equaling fifth consecutive drivers’ title last year.
The Dutchman spent much of the Japanese Grand Prix battling for seventh place with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, but felt he was unable to win due to battery deployment regulations.
Verstappen said he was “just trying to hold on” during the race because the balance of his car was “unpredictable”, as was the case in qualifying when he was overtaken by Racing Bull’s Arvid Lindblad in Q2.
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Verstappen’s nightmare start to the season continued, and he was eliminated in Q2 at the Japanese Grand Prix.
“This is not sustainable for us as a team. We need to understand our problems and work hard to bring about improvements,” he told Sky Sports F1.
“It can be unbalanced, but it doesn’t take away from the way we race. I’ve already commented on that several times. It’s a limit. A lot of drivers have been vocal about it. That’s the biggest issue for me.”
“Of course I want to win, but I also accept driving a P7. The way I drive a P7 with the system is not very fun.”
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Verstappen urges Red Bull to improve performance during break for next race in Miami
Mekies said that despite his frustrations, he and Verstappen had “absolutely no discussions” about the four-time world champion’s future in F1.
“We have a lot of work to do. I’m sure by the time we give him a fast car he’ll be a happier Max,” he said.
“By the time we give him a car that he can push and make a difference, he’ll be a happier Max as well. That’s 100 percent of our discussion right now, to be honest.”
“According to the regulations, they have some good aspects and some trickier aspects. As a sport, we will meet with the other teams during the break and see how we can tweak things to improve the situation.”
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Verstappen said his Red Bull was very difficult to drive, and Jacques Villeneuve said he thought it was because of its unpredictability.
Mekies: “Red Bull is 1 second slower than Mercedes”
Red Bull expected 2026 to be a difficult year as it worked with Ford to develop its own power unit for the first time. However, Verstappen’s biggest issues seem to be chassis and aerodynamics rather than engine performance.
Verstappen crashed in the first qualifying of the year in Australia, but there was a silver lining for Red Bull as he improved from 20th to sixth, while Isak Hajar qualified third.
However, at the weekend’s China Sprint, Verstappen retired from the Grand Prix due to a coolant failure, resulting in no points, and continued to struggle at the start.
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Verstappen crashes into barrier during Q1 of Australian Grand Prix
Asked where the potential that Red Bull had in Australia went, Mekies said: “We certainly think we took a step back in China and we measure it not just against the top teams, but also against the midfields that came closer to us, so we certainly took a step back in China.”
“I don’t think this is just a product of the number of corners. At certain cornering speeds and cornering conditions, there is a layer of performance degradation compared to what the package is supposed to give, so we need to work on this.”
“Japan was a little bit better compared to China, especially in the race. We were also fourth, far away from fourth (the best team), so we didn’t know that and nobody was interested in being that far away from fourth. But the overall gap is what we’ve been talking about. About a second to the best team and half a second to the best Ferrari is probably where we are now.”
F1 will resume with the second sprint weekend of the season, the Miami Grand Prix, from May 1-3, which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports now – cancel anytime with no contract
