Red Bull F1 Team Principal Laurent Mekies has shared his insights on the RB22’s performance gains, the ongoing tight development race, and the strategy choice for Max Verstappen following their haul of 10 points at the 2026 Miami GP on Sunday.
With Red Bull bringing a substantial upgrade package with seven updated elements, the fruits of their labour were noticeable across the race weekend at the Miami International Autodrome.
After coming home in fifth in the Sprint race, Verstappen missed out on pole by 0.166 seconds in the Grand Prix qualifying session on Saturday. However, he held onto the front row comfortably and stayed ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in third.
Despite experiencing a dramatic 360-degree spin on the opening lap and pitting rather early on Lap 6, the Dutchman recovered pretty well to cross the line in P5 in the 57-lap race.
Mekies on Red Bull’s progress during the 2026 Miami GP weekend
Speaking in a print media session after Sunday’s race, Laurent Mekies shed more light on whether the RB22 had taken a step forward in performance during the Miami GP weekend in comparison to the first three rounds of the 2026 F1 season.
Confirming the progress they have made, Mekies highlighted how the Milton Keynes squad were lagging significantly behind their rivals in China and Japan and that the updates were essential to make up for lost ground.
“Yes, there is a definitive step forward. We left Japan 1.2 seconds away from the pole, China 1.0 second away from the pole. Competition was not going to wait for us with their updates.”
Noting how all the teams, barring Aston Martin, brought upgrades to Miami, the Frenchman revealed that they were confident about producing faster lap times as long as they managed to get on top of their problems.
Although he couldn’t specify how many tenths Red Bull have gained overall, Mekies underlined the improvement they made over a single lap between Friday and Saturday and rightfully hailed the Miami GP as their best race weekend of the year so far.
“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 the pole on Friday and less than two tenths away from the pole on Saturday is a big indication of the size of the progress.
“What number is the correct one, we don’t know. But compared to where we were, it’s something much better than anything we have been able to show this year.”
The RB22’s potential and the close development race
Laurent Mekies also stated that Red Bull were yet to determine the ideal race pace they had on Sunday due to Verstappen’s spin on the first lap of the 2026 Miami GP and the suboptimal strategy they adopted thereafter. Nonetheless, he surmised that the RBB22’s pace was robust enough to compete for a spot on the podium or at least a normal top-five finish.
“The race today will probably take a few hours for the guys to extract the true race pace given that we were very offset with the strategy with Max Verstappen]. But I think overall, big pictures.
“Again, race pace was strong, confirming the good signs shown in quali. Not strong enough for P1 and P2, but perhaps able to put us in a fight between P3, P4, and P5.”
Moreover, Mekies commended the team for getting the crucial upgrade package ready ahead of the Miami GP and contributing to the car’s increased competitiveness.
At the same time, the Red Bull Team Principal drew attention to the tight development race that’s raging on right now. Suggesting that the pecking order can evolve at any moment, he emphasised how certain teams will introduce bigger upgrades in the upcoming F1 race weekend and that they haven’t fully extracted the updated RB22’s potential yet.
“So, again, something that we had not shown so far this season, and it’s credit to everyone back in Milton Keynes for such an important step forward.
“Don’t get me wrong, we have not cracked everything we wanted to. So, us against us. There is more we want to extract out of our package and then we are conscious that development race will be on and competition will bring stuff next race.”
Mekies defends the Red Bull pit wall’s strategy for Verstappen at the 2026 F1 Miami GP
Asked if Red Bull would’ve made a different strategy call in hindsight as Verstappen struggled to keep his hard tyres alive towards the end of the 51-lap stint, Laurent Mekies clarified that the pit wall opted for the early pit stop in reaction to the Dutchman’s spin in the second corner after the five red lights went out at the 2026 Miami GP.
While he conceded that the second stint was too long, the 49-year-old elaborated that it was their best strategy to minimise the damage and gain some positions. Furthermore, he added that the rain, which never intensified during the main event, could’ve opened a favourable window for a tyre change and turned Verstappen’s race on its head on Sunday.
“Obviously we had not planned to take such an early window initially. We have done that in reaction to what happened on Lap 1 and being out of position with what happened on Lap 1.
“We had to take that risk in order to get a chance to be back into stronger positions. It was a big ask to stay out for whatever 47 laps on the hard tyres and yes, ultimately we have been missing a few laps to make it something stronger.
“But I think it’s part of the game. We had to take some risks after Lap 1, so that’s what we did.
“There have been a few times in the race where the rain was actually quite close, and it’s something that could’ve been ultimately an advantage.”
