Otmar Szafnauer claims Red Bull have more ‘potential’ in their engine than Mercedes

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Former Alpine team boss Otmar Szafnauer has claimed that Red Bull have more ‘potential’ in their engine than Mercedes.

Four races into the 2026 Formula 1 season, it can be said that Mercedes have been the dominant force. George Russell took victory in the season opener in Melbourne before Kimi Antonelli won in China, Japan and Miami.

Heading into the Canadian Grand Prix, which will take place later this month, Antonelli leads Russell by 20 points at the top of the world championship standings.

During last weekend’s Miami Grand Prix, it appeared that the likes of McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari have managed to close the gap to Mercedes, but it has to be noted that the Silver Arrows will be bringing upgrades to Montreal. 

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Otmar Szafnauer claims Red Bull have more ‘potential’ in their engine than Mercedes

Speaking recently on the High Performance Racing podcast, ex-Alpine and Aston Martin team boss Szafnauer claimed that Red Bull have more ‘potential’ for improvement in their engine than Mercedes.

Szafnauer said: “We just said Mercedes are going to bring a big upgrade to Canada. Let’s see what happens. That gap might again increase.

“I think I could be wrong, but there’s more potential for improvement on the Red Bull Ford powertrain than there is on the Mercedes.

“I think Mercedes are already up there. So there’s that and then the chassis side.”

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READ MORE: Will Buxton says Max Verstappen will be ‘licking his lips’ watching Kimi Antonelli vs George Russell

Laurent Mekies says Red Bull made a ‘definitive step forward’ in Miami

After a poor start to the campaign, the Red Bull RB22 looked much more competitive during the Miami Grand Prix.

Four-time world champion Max Verstappen was able to challenge the frontrunners and qualified P2 for the main race.

However, the Dutchman ended up finishing in fifth place after a poor start resulted in a first-lap spin, which dropped him down the field.

Speaking afterwards, Red Bull team boss Mekies claimed that they had made a step forward.

As per F1, Mekies said: “There is a definitive step forward. We left Japan 1.2 seconds away from pole, China 1.0 seconds away from pole.

“Competition was not going to wait for us with their updates. Everybody has updated the car, but certainly we knew that on top of the development race, we had to solve some of our issues and we knew there was lap time in it.

“So, to see us this weekend qualifying six tenths away from pole on Friday and less than two tenths away from pole on Saturday is a big indication of the size of the progress.”