Laurent Mekies says Red Bull stopped focusing on its frustration over the ADUO system and instead concentrated on recovering the three tenths it believed separated the RB22 from the front. That development push across both the power unit and chassis ultimately helped Max Verstappen deliver Red Bull’s first victory of the 2026 season in Malaysia.
The Red Bull team principal believes the comeback reflects one of the defining characteristics of the Milton Keynes operation: its ability to develop aggressively throughout a Formula 1 season even when the starting point is far from ideal.
Red Bull unable to use ADUO despite rivals receiving development opportunity
Against expectations, Red Bull was classified by the FIA as having the strongest internal-combustion engine on the grid. That assessment prevented the Milton Keynes team from making use of the ADUO mechanism, unlike Mercedes, which is expected to introduce updated power units before the end of the year using the development opportunity available to it.
Red Bull made its dissatisfaction with the ADUO measurements clear to the FIA, while Nikolas Tombazis acknowledged that the system requires adjustments ahead of future seasons.
Despite that frustration, Red Bull eventually shifted its attention away from the regulatory debate and towards extracting more performance from what it already had.
Laurent Mekies: ‘We stopped complaining’ about ADUO
“The ADUO? We stopped complaining and focused on pure competition,” Laurent Mekies said, as reported by motorsport.com.
“Ultimately, we would rather be in the position of having a powerful engine and not benefiting from the ADUO than having a weak engine and needing the ADUO.”
That did not mean development stopped. Although the power-unit hardware itself could not be changed, Red Bull continued working extensively in other areas to improve performance.
“There has been an enormous amount of development work behind the scenes, even though it is not possible to modify the hardware. I imagine that applies particularly to us, in our very first year of operation when it comes to power units.”
Max Verstappen converts Red Bull progress into Sepang victory
The RB22 then provided the clearest evidence of that progress in Malaysia. Max Verstappen secured pole position at Sepang before losing two places to the Mercedes drivers at the start.
The Dutchman recovered the lead on track and remained in front from that point onwards. Before the final Safety Car neutralisation, Max Verstappen had also built a significant advantage over Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
The victory was particularly important because it came through outright performance rather than unusual circumstances favouring Red Bull.
Red Bull recovered from one second behind to erase final three tenths
For Laurent Mekies, the Sepang result also highlighted how much progress Red Bull has made since the start of the year.
“Once again, this team has managed to develop incredibly during this season,” Laurent Mekies said.
“At the beginning of the year we were one second behind, but recovering through development is Red Bull’s trademark.”
At one stage, the team believed it might reach a ceiling around three tenths away from the fastest package. Instead, continued work across the entire car allowed Red Bull to close that remaining deficit.
“At one point we believed we would stop three tenths from the top, but by working on everything, from the power unit to the chassis, we managed to close it.”
“The Baku upgrade played a part in this, but it is part of a wider effort from everyone to extract more.”
Baku upgrade was only one part of Red Bull’s recovery
The Azerbaijan package therefore contributed to the turnaround, but Laurent Mekies stressed that there was no single component or breakthrough responsible for Red Bull’s improvement.
The progress came from combining chassis development with continued work around the new power unit programme, allowing the RB22 to move from a car that began the season around a second away from the front to one capable of winning on pure pace.
That recovery has also changed the outlook for Red Bull and Max Verstappen during the closing stages of the season. The latest championship gaps can be followed in the Formula 1 driver standings.
For Laurent Mekies, the significance of Sepang therefore goes beyond a single victory. Red Bull could not change the FIA’s ADUO assessment, so it turned its attention to the areas it could control — and ultimately found the three tenths it once feared would remain out of reach.
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