After the Singapore Grand Prix, Red Bull Team Principal Laurent Mekies took some time to analyse the team’s 2026 F1 season progress. In his first full season at Red Bull, the team has regrouped from the tumult that saw Mekies’ predecessor ousted and the team fall from the top of the standings. While Red Bull still sit fourth in the constructors’ race, they’ve closed their gap to McLaren from 83 points to 7. Max Verstappen’s two consecutive wins have vaulted him from 6th to 4th in the drivers’ standings, and just 17 points from 2nd.
Red Bull “a team that has never stopped winning”
When the team’s return to top form was framed as a reshaping, Mekies elaborated that “we don’t like the word reshape. It’s a team that has never stopped winning.”
“Last year, we failed for the world title for two points. So, we are not looking at—you know, reshaping is not the target. The target is to come back to a new winning cycle, having lost the title last year.”
Red Bull’s pace a surprise to everyone
Mekies emphasised that this success has been very much a group effort and refused to praise himself for his role in it.
“The contribution is one out of 2,000 people. It’s one out of 2,000 in the same way that all of my colleagues are contributing one out of 2,000. It’s the incredible Red Bull Racing spirit that we have. We all have a very, very, very, very tiny part of lap time in our hand, regardless of what function we have in the team. And I think the progress this year has very well demonstrated that.
“We have managed to unlock lap time to an extent that probably has surprised many people, and it’s thanks to every single contribution of our people. It’s a very simple brief that we are following: it’s winning. It’s the only thing that is driving us.”
For Mekies and Red Bull F1, honesty breeds success
Mekies also pointed out that a big part of Red Bull’s 2026 success is making sure everyone is on the same page.
“We do it with a brutally honest approach that is ours, which you hear when we communicate with our drivers. But it’s the same when we communicate with each other. There is no hiding when it comes to looking for the next lap time pocket.”
To that end, Mekies said that this brutal honesty has applied internally as well outwardly.
“I can guarantee that you can come tomorrow in Milton Keynes and try to give a compliment to any of these guys. They will react in the exact same way: they will look at you and they will tell you, ‘what are you talking about? There was this, this, this, this, and this that was not working. And we need to get that right.’
“And that’s what you will get on the chassis side, that you will get on the PU side, that you will get in any other sport function.”
The sum of these parts is that, after Singapore, Red Bull have back-to-back wins and their longest streak of F1 double-points finishes since 2024, while Mekies was signed to a five-year extension.
“So we take the win, we take the double win. We will celebrate it with the team because it’s a phenomenal achievement in only 15 races. But we are only focused on what is separating us from the next one.”
