- Red Bull CEO Laurent Mekies rejects claims of having top engine on the grid.
- He’s eager for the first upgrade window to improve the engine.
- Max Verstappen is a key reason behind Mekies’ push for engine upgrade.
Red Bull Racing has found itself in a bind, accused of holding the best engine while sitting away from the front. The claim has raised eyebrows, and team boss Laurent Mekies stepped in to pour cold water on the talk, urging observers to rein it in as the team is not topping any charts.
Upgrades were lined up for after the Miami Grand Prix, but that timeline could shift, and Mekies expects to be given the chance to move the needle.
Are the engine upgrades of Red Bull Racing at risk?
The whole topic circles around Formula 1’s 2026 rules, which include a mechanism known as ADUO. Under this system, if a team’s engine trails the leading unit by a set margin, it is granted extra scope to develop and close the gap during the season.
The first window for upgrades had been set for after this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix, but it could be pushed back after two of the first six rounds, in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, were called off due to conflict in the Middle East.
Even as Mercedes has led early races and leads the standings, talk began to gather that Red Bull might have the strongest internal combustion engine. If that were the case, Red Bull would fall outside the group eligible for added development support.
On same page as Toto…
Mekies shut down that line of thought, stating their engine is not at the level of the front and that they expect to fall within the group that receives room to improve. In effect, he has drawn a line in the sand, placing Red Bull among those chasing ground rather than those setting it.
Mekies said, “Is it [Red Bull’s engine] at the level of the very best? Absolutely not. Hence, do we expect to be in that group of people able to be given the possibility to catch up? Yes, we certainly hope to be in that category.”
He also echoed Toto Wolff, who has said the rules are meant to help teams close gaps. In public, both sides stand on the same page, even as they differ on who stands to gain. Wolff pointed toward Honda as a unit facing a gap, while Mekies placed Mercedes as the yardstick others are chasing.
From Red Bull’s standpoint, Mekies said the team is giving up a few tenths of a second per lap to Mercedes, with a large share of that gap tied to the engine.
How is it related to Max Verstappen?
Red Bull’s run at the start of the season has fueled doubts over whether four-time world champion Max Verstappen will stay with the team beyond the end of the year.
The Dutch driver, who has voiced concern over the 2026 regulations, said in Japan that he is weighing a step away from the sport at the end of the year.
Mekies, however, is banking on updates to give Verstappen a base to push the car’s development and lift his outlook.
For Red Bull, the matter also hooks into keeping Verstappen from losing patience and stepping away. The car has not delivered, the results have not stacked up, and when a lead driver begins to question the road ahead, the heat rises.
Mekies is seeking to steady the ship. He believes that once Verstappen has a car he can push, his skill will begin to tell. At present, the car holds him back to the point that even a driver of his standing cannot cover its flaws.
So far, across the three races this season, Verstappen has finished the Australian Grand Prix in P6, the Japanese Grand Prix in P8, and retired from the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix on lap 45 due to an Energy Recovery System (ERS) coolant failure. He had been running in sixth after climbing back from a poor start and a weekend shaped by tyre wear and handling trouble.
