Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has revealed that Max Verstappen can detect problems with the RB22 that the team cannot always identify through its sensors and telemetry. The Dutch driver’s extraordinary sensitivity behind the wheel has become an important technical asset for Red Bull, with his feedback helping the engineers uncover issues that remain hidden in the data.
Finishing second with what was considered the fourth-fastest car on the grid meant the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix classification could have been considerably worse for Max Verstappen. However, the four-time world champion made it clear that his unexpected runner-up result in Budapest did not mean the RB22’s structural weaknesses had suddenly disappeared.
Max Verstappen maximised Red Bull’s package at the Hungaroring, helped by a spectacular overtake on Lewis Hamilton. Even so, the result could not conceal the car’s underlying difficulties or the precision required to extract competitive lap times from it.
Max Verstappen’s Red Bull feedback goes beyond the data
Laurent Mekies is well aware of Max Verstappen’s importance to Red Bull. The team principal is working hard to renew the contract of the team’s most valuable asset, potentially without an early exit clause, amid reports of a proposed Red Bull contract extension.
In an interview with Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, Laurent Mekies admitted that Max Verstappen’s natural feel for the car can sometimes go beyond the information collected through telemetry and onboard sensors.
“Max Verstappen,” the French engineer explained to Erik van Haren, “has incredible sensitivity in the car and guides us as a team with his feedback. The only thing is that we are not always able, so to speak, to match his sensitivity with our technical support.
“It is also true that there is limited scope for compromise because finding the right set-up requires great precision. If we move too far away from the predefined parameters, it comes at the expense of lap time.”
Red Bull sensors cannot measure everything Max Verstappen feels
Laurent Mekies acknowledged that Max Verstappen can perceive behaviour from the RB22 that Red Bull’s current data-analysis methods cannot detect. Rather than viewing that disparity as a concern, the team principal considers the driver’s technical awareness one of Red Bull’s greatest strengths.
“It is a fact,” Laurent Mekies added, “that Max feels things we cannot measure with our current data analysis and the sensors fitted to the car. I am very honest about that. It is the result of his extraordinary sensitivity in the car and the technical level he possesses.
“I do not see it as a worrying factor, but rather as a great strength. To give an example, at the beginning of this year, Max Verstappen had already sensed that there was a problem with the steering box, and we were unable to identify it.
“Thanks to him, however, we managed to resolve the issue. Therefore, as a team, we only benefit from his presence.”
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