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Team principal Laurent Mekies has now banned Red Bull’s staff from discussing giving up on the 2026 F1 season amid their dreary start under the new regulations this year.
Red Bull have endured a bleak start to the 2026 F1 regulations era, with the RB22 proving to be no match in China and Japan for the cars that Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren developed. Max Verstappen climbing from P20 to P6 in Australia now seems to have been a red herring.
Verstappen called the Red Bull RB22 “undriveable” in Japan, as he struggled with understeer on turn-in and oversteer under acceleration around Suzuka. Isack Hadjar also said Red Bull’s chassis is “terrible” in Japan, after he finished P12 and Verstappen had only qualified in P11.
After Alpine ace Pierre Gasly also held Verstappen off on the back of out-qualifying the four-time champion for the second straight Grand Prix, Red Bull also left Japan just sixth in the F1 constructors’ standings. Haas are also above Alpine and Red Bull after the first three rounds.
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Laurent Mekies has banned Red Bull’s staff from viewing 2026 as a transitional year
But FormulaTecnica now reports that Mekies is pushing Red Bull to improve the RB22, so he has ‘categorically banned’ the word ‘surrender’ at their factory in Milton Keynes. Mekies has no interest in throwing in the towel after three rounds and dubbing 2026 a transitional year.
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Mekies is encouraging Red Bull’s staff to attack the challenge of identifying the flaws of their car to then improve the RB22 at a rapid rate to out-develop their rivals. Every department at their factory is also thought to be ‘ignited by a desire for redemption’ after their bleak start.
What success will look like for Red Bull in the 2026 season remains to be seen, as they have major problems to fix. It has previously been suggested that Red Bull are already discussing giving up on the RB22 and developing an entirely new car to be unveiled later in the season.
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It has also been claimed that Red Bull may need a year to develop a new chassis as the RB22 is so overweight, contributing to them losing eight-tenths of a second per lap to their fastest rivals. Red Bull will thus take upgrades to Miami to gauge whether the RB22 can be rescued.
The success of the updates that Red Bull unveil at the Miami Grand Prix next time out at the start of May will also be vital for Mekies in his bid to turn the team’s fortunes around for the second time in less than a year. He only replaced Christian Horner in charge in July last year.
It is said that Mekies is struggling to manage the mood at Red Bull’s factory after starting the 2026 season so badly. Verstappen is just ninth in the drivers’ standings after three rounds with three fewer points than Gasly in eighth, while Hadjar only ranks in 12th on four points.
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