Helmut Marko agrees with Laurent Mekies about Max Verstappen’s ‘mood’ at Red Bull

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Helmut Marko has agreed with Laurent Mekies’ verdict on Max Verstappen’s mood at Red Bull improving due to the team’s latest upgrades for the RB22.

During F1’s unplanned five-week break, Red Bull engineers have been hard at work at the team’s Milton Keynes facility to right some of the wrongs that were made during the initial stages of the RB22’s life cycle.

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For the upcoming Miami Grand Prix, Red Bull have been preparing an upgrade to address the RB22’s ‘fundamental’ weight issue, which has been a major talking point regarding the Austrian constructor’s competitiveness in 2026.

The gap between them and high-flyers Mercedes has been suggested to be the real reason for Max Verstappen’s frustrations over the new ruleset, with Red Bull’s latest upgrades expected to alleviate the Dutchman’s concerns.

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Helmut Marko agrees that Red Bull’s Miami GP upgrades will ‘improve’ Max Verstappen’s mood

Ahead of this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix, Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies revealed his hopes that the RB22’s new upgrades would improve Verstappen’s mood amid his ongoing frustrations regarding the 2026 F1 season.

In a recent interview with Krone, former Red Bull chief Helmut Marko has shared a similar opinion. The Austrian previously thought that the Chinese GP would help Verstappen rekindle his fire for the sport, but that didn’t quite come to fruition.

Asked for his latest thoughts on Verstappen’s future, Marko replied, “Red Bull has identified some issues with the car and found solutions. Once the car is competitive again, Max’s enjoyment will return and his mood will improve.

“All the more so if the regulations are tweaked a bit ahead of 2027, because it’s clear – and not just to Max – that there needs to be more racing and less economy runs.”

Marko also shared his desire for F1 to make more significant changes to the new regulations, highlighting that the amendments made ahead of the race weekend in Florida simply aren’t ‘enough’.

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Max Verstappen may be running out of patience with Red Bull

Another ace up Red Bull’s sleeve is the new wind tunnel that is currently being built at their Milton Keynes-based headquarters.

The F1 team’s top brass are hoping that their new state-of-the-art R&D feature will alleviate some of Verstappen’s thoughts of an exit at the end of the season.

However, Red Bull have been warned by Ralf Schumacher that Verstappen is unlikely to give them much more time to turn things around for him.

The F1 pundit strongly believes that the time it will take the Austrian constructor to rebuild their setup following a mass exodus of key personnel will be far too long, highlighting how ‘impatient’ the four-time world champion can be.