Max Verstappen’s Red Bull warning may be exactly what the team needs after surprise Canadian GP podium
Max Verstappen’s podium finish in the Canadian Grand Prix came as something of a surprise, especially after the frustration that followed qualifying, when the Dutch driver suggested Red Bull had ignored his feedback during setup discussions and allowed the engineers to pursue the wrong direction. Yet according to team principal Laurent Mekies, that exact dynamic is part of what makes Red Bull stronger.
Max Verstappen ended the Montreal weekend with his first podium of the 2026 Formula 1 season, a result that had seemed unlikely after qualifying and the visible disagreement over setup choices. During the crucial single-lap sessions, the four-time world champion struggled with tyre warm-up issues and made several mistakes while trying to extract performance from the RB22.
It was not a problem unique to Red Bull, as several drivers chose extra preparation laps before pushing, but in Max Verstappen’s case the issue appeared particularly pronounced. After qualifying, the Dutchman openly revealed that Red Bull’s engineers had not followed his preferred setup direction, choosing instead to pursue an alternative path.
That admission did little to inspire optimism ahead of race day. However, 24 hours later, the picture looked far more encouraging, even if the final result may not fully reflect the true competitive order given McLaren’s strategy errors and George Russell’s retirement.
Max Verstappen himself admitted after the race that the car had actually felt better in Miami than in Canada.
“To be honest, I felt better with the car in Miami. So I’m a bit surprised to be on the podium here. But you have to take into account George’s retirement and the fact that McLaren made a mess of the strategy,” Max Verstappen said.
That does not diminish the importance of the Montreal result, not necessarily because of the podium itself, but because it appears to confirm the progress Red Bull first began to show in Miami, where the Milton Keynes-based team introduced a significant upgrade package that appeared to breathe fresh life into the RB22.
The road back to the front remains long, but the signs are encouraging.
“Overall, I would say we at least confirmed the progress we saw in Miami,” Laurent Mekies explained. “I think we also achieved a little bit more than that package alone, in the sense that we managed to reduce some of the performance gap to the top teams. Looking at the times, yesterday in qualifying it was three tenths, but today I think we were closer compared to the half-second deficit we had in Miami. There, we finished 40 seconds behind the winner, so I’d say things were slightly better here.”
“Now, there’s no reason to get overly excited, because the circuit layout may also have helped us. It’s a track that can hide certain weaknesses of the car. But we confirmed Miami. And considering our rivals brought another upgrade package this weekend, I’d say it confirms we’re moving in the right direction with development.”
Canada’s low temperatures clearly did not help Red Bull. Even during the race, Max Verstappen was among the first to complain about front tyre graining, creating a very different scenario compared to Miami. It was therefore no major surprise that Lewis Hamilton eventually closed in, despite a mistake that had briefly given Max Verstappen some breathing room.
The warning signs had already emerged on Friday, when the car’s troublesome braking instability became more obvious. The bouncing under braking led to lock-ups and made it difficult for the drivers to get back on the throttle early on corner exit. Because of that, and given Red Bull’s long-standing habit of transforming difficult weekends, the team decided it needed to take aggressive setup risks.
“I think whenever we find ourselves in a situation where Max and Isack are not comfortable, we take risks,” Laurent Mekies added. “That’s what we did last year. It’s what this team has done for years. And it’s what we did again this weekend. As soon as we find ourselves in those conditions, we start trying things.”
“We are only at the beginning of the year and this generation of cars. We will continue experimenting with our drivers, even if that costs us something. We take risks every time we feel we don’t have the right balance or the correct gap to the competition. And when you take those kinds of risks, you naturally explore different setup directions. This weekend, with both Max and Isack operating at a strong level, we were fortunate enough to be able to explore with both cars.”
Max Verstappen’s comments after qualifying, along with several past examples, could suggest that he is often the one dictating the setup direction after a difficult Friday. However, Laurent Mekies insisted the process is far more collaborative, with driver input playing an important role without being the sole deciding factor.
This time, according to Max Verstappen, the internal discussion went in a different direction — so much so that he implied he allowed the engineers to make the wrong call simply to prove his point.
“Even if from the outside it may have looked different, our drivers are fully integrated into every decision we make,” Laurent Mekies said. “That doesn’t mean we don’t sometimes enjoy asking, ‘What do you think?’ and then asking the same question elsewhere. But in the end, we always agree on what to try. And sometimes, that leads to an ‘I told you so’ moment.”
Canada may have provided exactly that kind of moment, but Laurent Mekies believes that this kind of internal tension is actually essential for progress. Sometimes taking risks pays off, sometimes it backfires, but the willingness to challenge assumptions remains fundamental to Red Bull’s development philosophy.
“We keep learning together. And what is clear is that both sides understand this dynamic is necessary. Every now and then, you need that ‘I told you so’ moment if you want to keep progressing.”
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