Red Bull ended Friday at the 2026 F1 Mexico City GP with both cars in the top six after FP1, even though Max Verstappen lost most of FP2 to repairs. Earlier in the day, Ayumu Iwasa caught the eye on his return to the RB22, taking fifth place in the first session.
The team arrived at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez level on points with McLaren in the Constructors’ Championship and carrying strong momentum from the last four races. Verstappen also remains locked in a tight fight for second place in the Drivers’ Championship, with just nine points separating him, George Russell, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.
Iwasa makes his mark in FP1
Iwasa took over Verstappen’s car for FP1, one of ten rookie outings across the grid. The Japanese driver set a 1:19.113 to finish fifth, 0.985s behind session leader Leclerc, while Isack Hadjar placed 11th in the sister car.
Mexico City’s high altitude strips downforce from the cars, and the 2026 machinery adds another layer of difficulty. Iwasa, however, felt the conditions held few surprises.
“Actually it was not so different to what I experienced last year. Because the tyres are not so different to what I drove this season so far. So yeah, it was not easy but it was okay for me,” Iwasa said.
A clear programme helped him find his rhythm quickly.
“And also I had a kind of proper run plan for FP1. So I was able to build up the pace quite quickly, especially during the hard run. Then in the medium, still I was able to do kind of good step in terms of the driving.
“We also did a few testing on the car and we found some positives and also a bit of improvements. So yeah, I think it was quite a solid session.”
High praise from Mekies
Few FP1 stand-ins outpace one of the regular drivers, and team principal Laurent Mekies hailed Iwasa’s display in the post-FP1 press conference.
“Look, Ayumu did really, really an outstanding job. James [Vowles] described how difficult it is for anyone to jump in, but he has really impressed us from the first lap out there,” Mekies said.
“It’s easy to forget that I’m sure we all apply a reasonable amount of pressure on these young drivers to make sure they do not take unnecessary risks, and to find that balance and to produce the sort of lap times that Ayumu has produced this morning is very impressive, so very happy. We actually had a proper working session with him in terms of testing a few things, so it was very, very useful.”
Iwasa himself insisted he ignored the timing screens during the session.
“Of course I was P5 with quite good lap time but honestly I didn’t care about it during the session. Just I was focusing on my job. But as a result I could show my speed, which is really positive and I was happy about that.
“So yeah, I hope I gave good feedback to the team and I did a good job for the team.”
Iwasa last drove the RB22 at Monza, and Red Bull has transformed the car since Baku. Verstappen has described it as more connected and more predictable, and Iwasa noticed the same progress.
“Yeah, the last time was in Monza. Honestly I felt that the car is quite better than that time, better than Monza. Especially at low speed I felt quite a good amount of grip.
“At high speed I had quite confidence to push. So honestly, as Max said, it is more connected. But still there was a bit of negative side, which was a bit kind of instability on entry.
“Sometimes if I push too much. But still the car was quite good for me. Of course, as I said, there was a bit of improvement but overall it was not that bad.”
Opinions on the Ford powertrain
The weekend also marks the first time Red Bull Ford Powertrains has run its power unit at Mexico City’s extreme altitude. Iwasa reported some engine-braking issues, but said the team had anticipated them.
“During the session there were some, not issues but kind of improvement on the power unit side as well. Sometimes the engine brake was not working well. But we were expecting that already.
“So that is also one of the positive because we could see the improvement in everyone. And I think that is going to help for the rest of the weekend.”
Mekies confirmed that the altitude had caused Red Bull no unexpected problems, although Hadjar lost track time in FP1 with an unrelated power unit issue.
“I think there have been no unforeseen issues so far related to the altitude. In fairness, we did have a PU issue with Isack this morning and lost a bit of track time. The guys did a very good job and managed to send him back on track, but nothing linked with altitude,” Mekies said.
The Frenchman expects the unique conditions to shake up the competitive order this weekend.
“I think we all expect somewhat the pecking order, both in terms of PU for the altitudes and perhaps also in terms of cars, with all the compromises we all have to make on the cooling side, we expect that this race could be a one-off in terms of pecking order. We don’t really have an idea whether we will have an advantage or a deficit this weekend. Only time will tell. But what is sure is that there is a fair amount of lap time, PU side plus chassis side, that is unusually in the game this weekend. So, let’s see how it pans out.”
Getting through the 2026 F1 Mexico City GP
Mekies added that every team will sacrifice some performance simply to get through the 2026 F1 Mexico City GP, and that Friday’s opening hour revealed little about where those compromises leave Red Bull.
“No real surprises so far. It’s very difficult. I think in many respects everybody will be operating somehow not at the optimum this weekend: PU side for the altitude, chassis side for the temperature. We are all ready to make some compromises to make sure our car can survive and our PU can survive in these conditions.”
“Then where does that compromise put us in terms of relative competitiveness? It’s not something we can assess in FP1, but it’s something that will become apparent as the other sessions develop in terms of car running. So far, we’ve been with the difficulties we were expecting to have.”
Iwasa has combined his Red Bull duties with a Super Formula campaign this year, and he has two races left in Japan.
“It’s always the same, I need to do my best all the time. Of course, in the Super Formula, I have two more races left. Just, the target is to win all of those two.”
“And yeah, hopefully I will jump in the car in F1 again and, of course, I need to be performing even better.”
Verstappen salvages fifth after Lawson clash
Verstappen’s FP2 lasted just 13 minutes before he and Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson made contact during a wheel-to-wheel battle. The collision scattered debris across the track, brought out the session’s only red flag and damaged the floor of Verstappen’s car. The stewards later summoned both drivers and handed out penalties.
Red Bull’s mechanics worked on the floor for most of the session, and Verstappen rejoined with around 20 minutes remaining. Despite lingering damage, he set a 1:18.138 to take fifth, 0.311s behind Leclerc’s pace-setting 1:17.827. Hadjar backed him up in sixth, just 0.099s further back, while Lawson recovered to ninth.
Verstappen admitted the day could have gone better, but he felt Red Bull sat close to the front.
“It’s tough. The session probably could have gone a little bit better, but at the same time, I think we were not too far off. So, yeah, just a bit of fine-tuning to do, but I guess everyone will say the same thing, because, of course, it never feels great,” Verstappen said.
“But then, of course, you look at everyone else, and I think no one is having, let’s say, a great time out there in terms of grip.”
Verstappen’s starts have drawn heavy scrutiny in recent weeks, yet Red Bull tried nothing new on Friday, and the Dutchman played down hopes of a quick fix.
“Nothing new,” he said. “Well, we know our limitations. It’s not going to magically change from one to the other weekend.”
Red Bull hopes to improve for F1 Mexico City GP
Red Bull also arrived in Mexico determined to bounce back from Austin, where Verstappen called his race average. Mekies agreed with that verdict and admitted the team fell short of the level it showed in Malaysia and Singapore.
“Max [Verstappen] is correct. We felt we had a fairly untidy Sunday. In fairness, Kimi [Antonelli] and Mercedes were a touch too fast for us, certainly on Sunday in Austin. But we were not at the same sort of performance level as we were in Malaysia and Singapore,” Mekies said.
“Some of that was expected. Some of that was something we feel we can fight back with. So, there are certainly a few things that we will tackle differently this weekend.”
Red Bull now turns to FP3 to complete that fine-tuning before Qualifying, as the team chases a result that could break the deadlock with McLaren.
