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Laurent Mekies admits Red Bull are now dealing with the consequences of chasing the 2025 title so hard for Max Verstappen. The Bulls have made a poor start to the 2026 season.
After three races, Red Bull are sixth in the constructors’ championship on 16 points, level with Alpine and behind Haas. In terms of results, it’s their worst start since 2008, when David Coulthard and Mark Webber were their drivers.
All the momentum that the team had at the end of last year has dissipated. Having been 104 points off the lead at one stage, Verstappen came within two points of the greatest drivers’ championship comeback in F1 history.
What do Red Bull need to do to convince Max Verstappen to stay in F1?
‘We knew there would be a price to pay’ – Laurent Mekies on Red Bull’s 2025 development
Mekies’ predecessor Christian Horner wanted to stop 2025 development so Red Bull could prioritise the new regulations, aware that the gap to the McLaren drivers was likely insurmountable.
But when he joined from Racing Bulls, Mekies sensed that ‘nobody’ at the team wanted to concede defeat in the title fight, even if it would inevitably compromise 2026 development.
Red Bull are making their debut as an engine manufacturer this year and made an effort to play down expectations during the winter.
Should Red Bull have given up on the 2025 title to prioritise 2026?
Mekies said on ‘Beyond the Grid‘: “There were all the reasons in the world, with the new regulations coming for 2026, with the new power unit project, to say, ‘You know what, let’s turn the page, ’25 did not work, let’s concentrate on ’26.’
“You would have been mad to want to do things differently. The truth is, nobody wanted to do that at Milton Keynes. Nobody wanted to turn the page. They all wanted to get to the bottom of that ’25 car and turn things around.
“Yes, they knew there would be a price to pay for later, but that’s how deep the fighting spirit in the team is.
Laurent Mekies refuses to make excuses for Red Bull problems
Mekies stands by his decision to continue 2025 development and chase the title for Verstappen, even if they ultimately fell short. In terms of validating their methods, he says it was important to extract the full potential of the RB21.
Even though the regulations have changed and their Honda partnership has come to an end, the Frenchman is refusing to call 2026 a ‘transition’ season for the F1 powerhouses.
“All these successes came from the massive risks that the team had to take in that short amount of time to turn things around,” he said.
“We thought, and we still think, it was the right thing to do. We felt that turning the page into 2026 would have been an easy escape and wishful thinking that ‘next year will be better’, even though we didn’t really understand the limitations of 2025.
- READ MORE: Red Bull are now discussing abandoning Max Verstappen’s 2026 car after losing ‘trust’ in the RB22
“Of course, the time and energy we invested for the late push last year, does it have an impact on where you start ’26? Of course it does.
“Do we use it as an excuse? No. We are not happy with the starting point, but we think we will get through these difficulties, as we did last year.
“We try to do everything we can to make sure this is not a transition year, despite the size of the challenge.”
Some Red Bull staff are questioning whether they are better off under Mekies. There are growing doubts over whether sacking Horner was the right decision.
But if Mekies can hold onto Max Verstappen, whose future is more uncertain than ever, and lead the team into the fight with Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren, he will look like one of the strongest team principals on the grid.
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