Red Bull Team Principal Laurent Mekies spoke in a print media session after the 2026 F1 Spanish GP at the Madring, where Max Verstappen finished second behind Kimi Antonelli. It was Red Bull’s strongest result in recent rounds. Liam Lawson, who stepped in for Isack Hadjar, finished sixth. Mekies was asked whether Verstappen could have won the race, given the controversy over position swaps during the opening laps.
Mekies on Verstappen’s performance at the 2026 F1 Spanish GP
Laurent Mekies acknowledged it was a strong weekend for Verstappen. He was cautious, however, about calling it the best of the season. Austria was much closer on pace to the race winner when the Dutchman was P2 that Sunday behind George Russell.
He pointed to the Monza weekend as a recent confirmation of Red Bull’s improving pace after big struggles in Zandvoort especially.
“At first, it’s a strong performance, whether it’s the best of the year, I’m not sure, but it certainly is the best in the wrong time. It’s a good confirmation of where the pace was in Monza, you know, in Monza to be so close to the fastest guys like Kimi. And again, today, we were one and a half tenths from pole yesterday on a much more complicated track, if you allow me to say. A very different track, with much more variations of corner speed,” stated Mekies.
“So it was encouraging to be on such a small gap on a track like that, and today in the race, I think it’s the same thing. I think it’s fair to say that Kimi was faster than us in the race, of course. And also, Lando was probably faster in the race. But I think we are not talking about more than a tenth or two. So, definitely an improvement compared to where we were in Zandvoort a few weeks ago, and probably Budapest or Silverstone, so that’s positive.”
Mekies on whether Red Bull could have won the race
Mekies was direct when asked whether Red Bull could have won the 2026 F1 Spanish GP. He said they could not, pointing to the pace deficit and the team’s handling of the incident involving Verstappen during the opening laps.
The Dutchman had been asked to give back position to Hamilton after cutting the turn 1 chicane at the start as he felt the Ferrari would have hit him otherwise. Initially, he had been ahead of Kimi Antonelli as well until he had to give up two spots. With Norris getting very unlucky on the timing of the VSC, it could have fallen the way of the four-time World Champion as overtaking was impossible in Madrid. Ultimately, though, he would have been penalised if he did not give the place back to the Ferrari man.
“When it comes to whether we could have won the race, no, I don’t think we could have won the race. A, because they were faster. B, because, as much as it was painful and difficult decisions to make at the moment, I think the guys and people did a very good job analysing the situation in as small a manner as they could, and took a fast and strong decision. And I think it could have been very, very difficult to see how we could have avoided the penalty. As much as it is frustrating to be in that situation, I think it would have been very difficult. And then, once you have a five or ten second penalty, it can affect your race in many different ways, but certainly doesn’t get you in a better position than P2,” Mekies concluded.
