From the first Grand Prix of the season, Red Bull leaves Melbourne with only modest satisfaction after the impressive comeback drive by Max Verstappen, but also with the clear awareness that there is still a significant amount of work to do. The team must address both reliability concerns — highlighted by the retirement of Isack Hadjar on lap 11 — and performance-related issues.
Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies described the Australian Grand Prix as an extremely complex race for all teams, particularly during the opening laps. According to the French manager, the start of the season represents a true learning phase for both teams and drivers as they continue adapting to the new technical regulations.
Mekies: “The chaotic start is part of the learning process we are all going through”
The Red Bull boss explained that the early stages of the race were particularly chaotic, something that had already been anticipated during practice starts in pre-season testing.
“Yes, it was really a huge puzzle for everyone,” Laurent Mekies said. “We saw it with Max, with Isack, with everyone. The first laps were really chaotic, to say the least. It is part of the major learning process that we have to go through as a team and as drivers.
I believe we will see several more races like this, where everyone is still trying to understand how to optimize these regulations in the best possible way.”
Laurent Mekies also emphasized how every single lap is providing new lessons, even if those lessons are not always positive. In particular, Hadjar’s retirement represented a missed opportunity after what had been a very promising weekend for the young driver.
With these new power units, lap times can fluctuate by several tenths of a second if the algorithm that controls the hybrid strategy makes even the slightest mistake. In some cases, this can even lead to unexpected incidents — as seen with Oscar Piastri during the formation laps earlier in the weekend. Because of this, the margin for improvement remains enormous.
“We are learning something on every lap,” Laurent Mekies continued. “Obviously some lessons are enjoyable, others less so. It’s a shame that we lost the engine with Isack today. He had a great weekend, he had good race pace and he managed to survive the chaotic opening laps, so there were some interesting points opportunities within reach.
But that’s part of the game. It was the first race for our Red Bull Ford engine, so we know that there is still a lot of work ahead of us.”
Mekies: “We expected to be the fourth force, but we fought with McLaren”
At the same time, Max Verstappen’s recovery from 20th on the grid to sixth place is viewed internally as an encouraging sign for the potential of the car. The former Ferrari deputy team principal highlighted the Dutch driver’s performance as an important boost of confidence for the entire team.
“Max’s comeback from P20 to P6, very close even to fifth place, is something that gives us confidence,” Laurent Mekies explained. “It means that the base of the car is healthy. There is still a huge amount of work to do, many things to learn, and nothing is optimized yet, but the foundation is good and we will be able to fight.”
Looking at the competitive order on track, Laurent Mekies acknowledged the superiority shown by Mercedes at the start of the season, while also expressing hope that Red Bull can soon return to battling with Ferrari and McLaren.
However, the data from this first race of the season suggests that, in terms of race pace, the Milton Keynes-based team may actually have a slight edge over McLaren, which currently appears to be the slowest among the four top teams.
The French executive described the team’s current situation as follows:
“I’m not talking about Mercedes because today they are very far ahead. They clearly showed that both in qualifying and in the race. But I hope that soon we will be able to fight with Ferrari and McLaren, as we partly managed to do this weekend.”
When asked what Red Bull currently needs in order to close the gap to the leading teams, Laurent Mekies stressed that improvements are required in every area of the car.
“We simply need to work. There is no single area,” he said. “We have a lot of work ahead of us and we believe that every team will find performance everywhere: chassis, aerodynamics, tyre management, energy management, and the engine. We are working across all these areas.
The gap to Mercedes today is significant, and also compared to Ferrari. We knew we were coming here as the fourth force, and I think this weekend we managed to fight with McLaren, which is positive. Now we must continue to progress and keep learning.”
Praise for Lindblad
Finally, Mekies also had very positive words for young Red Bull academy rookie Arvid Lindblad, who delivered an impressive performance during his debut weekend despite the pressure surrounding his first Formula 1 race.
“He was outstanding throughout the entire weekend,” Laurent Mekies said. “I’m very happy for him and for the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls team. For us it’s also important because it means accumulating many kilometres with the engine.
But what can you say — he is 18 years old and it is incredible what he is doing here, with all the pressure of his first race and with very limited private testing behind him. He is an incredible guy. He has been part of our junior programme for years.
We already saw him at 15 or 16 years old driving within the Formula 1 team environment and working on the simulator. What he is doing at his age is truly impressive, and it is very promising for the future.”
Laurent Mekies’ post-race analysis paints a picture of a Red Bull team that is realistically assessing its position as the “fourth force” while drawing immense motivation from the raw potential of the RB22 chassis. By identifying a 360-degree development path and highlighting the successful, if chaotic, debut of the Red Bull Ford engine, Mekies has signaled that the gap to Mercedes and Ferrari is a target, not a permanent fixture, for the 2026 season.
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