Red Bull has revealed when it hopes to give Max Verstappen a car capable of challenging at the front of the grid following another lacklustre race at the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix.
Enduring a nightmare start to the 2026 season, Red Bull and Verstappen have been beset by problems centred around their new power unit, built in collaboration with Ford.
While teething troubles were expected in the opening races, the RB22 has proven uncompetitive, the situation reaching a new low in Suzuka.
Verstappen failed to reach Q3, and the race was a lowly eighth, unable to pass the Alpine of Pierre Gasly all afternoon, Verstappen unhappy with the car’s performance after the race.
As rumours intensify over his future, Red Bull Team Principal Laurent Mekies has revealed the team’s target to turn around their dismal start to the season, citing the break before Miami as critical.
“[I’m] confident that we will use that break to make a very good step forward,” Mekies said to media, including Motorsport Week.
“We need time to deep-dive into our data, we need the time to simulate back what we see in the data into the tunnel, into our simulator, try some sensitivities and all of that we can do without racing.
“Does it mean you come to Miami and you have solved everything as a miracle? No, but again, am I confident that the team will get to the bottom of that understanding and start bringing improvements already in Miami. That’s what we will see but only the track and the lap time will give us an indication on whether we go into the right directions.”
Red Bull “not expecting miracles”
Mekies highlighted that the team is not expecting an immediate change in fortunes for Red Bull, believing this year’s development war to carry across the full season.
“I don’t think we should expect miracles about the amplitude of closing the gap because the is substantial but what we would like to see is to have a car where our drivers can push again, measure a gap to competitions in these conditions when we are able to push and then the rest will be pure development to the end of the year,” he said.
“We certainly think that in China we made a step back and we measure that not only against the top guys but also against the midfield that got closer to us, so in China we for sure made a step back.
“I don’t think it’s a product of the number of corners only. There’s a layer where in certain cornering speed and cornering conditions we lose some performance compared to what our package is supposed to give us, so this we need to work on.”
Mekies added that the team was “a touch better in Japan compared to China, especially in the race”.
“We didn’t see it because we were again a distant fourth and it doesn’t interest anyone to be a distant fourth. But the overall gap is what we have been talking about, it’s about one second to the best guys and half a second to the best Ferraris is probably where we are at.”
Mekies’ remarks are unlikely to alter the battle raging inside their star driver, as he wrestles with walking away from the sport. If Red Bull is to make inroads into Ferrari and McLaren, it has huge ground to make up. The journey starts now, the break before Miami will likley prove critical.
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