Following a disastrous result at the 2025 Hungarian Grand Prix, Red Bull Racing team principal Laurent Mekies provided insight into what went wrong for the team over the course of the race weekend.
The Hungarian round of the Formula 1 World Championship was arguably the most challenging Grand Prix of the season so far for the Red Bull Racing team. By the time the chequered flag fell on Sunday afternoon at the Hungaroring circuit, reigning World Champion Max Verstappen could only manage a disappointing ninth-place finish. His teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, ended the race down in seventeenth position, far from the points.
Despite bringing updates to the RB21, the latest developments were not sufficient to widen the car’s optimal operating window. The car struggled to handle the technical layout of the Budapest circuit, and the variable weather conditions throughout the weekend only made things worse. The changing temperatures created major problems with tyre management, a factor that proved decisive in Red Bull’s underwhelming performance.
From the very first free practice session on Friday, it was evident that the RB21 was not responding well to the circuit. The car failed to find the right balance and grip, and the efforts of the engineers and mechanics throughout the weekend were ultimately not enough to correct the issues or deliver a turnaround in performance.
Speaking to the media, including F1inGenerale, team principal Laurent Mekies explained in detail what failed to work and how the team reacted to the situation:
“What I can tell you is that the problem was clear from the very first lap of Free Practice 1. We looked at each other and asked: ‘What is going on?’”
Mekies continued by stating that the problems were evident right away:
“We could clearly see that in all the slow and medium-speed corners, we were simply far too slow. And it wasn’t a matter of car balance. We just couldn’t get the car into the right operating window. We were unable to activate the tyres. Sometimes this can happen, but not at this level—and the feeling was wrong from the very beginning.”
The RB21’s extremely narrow operating window caused major issues
Laurent Mekies noted that, despite both drivers running different setups and testing various solutions, there was no improvement over the course of the weekend.
“The one positive thing was that the drivers went out with different configurations to try different things—but nothing changed. We couldn’t get the tyres to work properly, whether it was in long runs or short runs. Occasionally, you can be lucky or make the right calls and hit the correct operating window, but that never happened here. Not even in qualifying,” he added.
This problem has been a recurring theme for Red Bull Racing during the current Formula 1 season. Mekies acknowledged that the operating window of the RB21 is generally quite narrow—sometimes very narrow—but emphasized that in Budapest the issue was even more extreme than usual: “This weekend, it was something more severe, and we were never able to get the car into the right condition.”
Certainly, the layout of the Hungaroring circuit did not help the RB21 showcase its strengths, but the scale of Red Bull’s struggles in Hungary represents a worrying signal for the team based in Milton Keynes. The development plan for the RB21 is expected to come to an end in the near future, as the team will soon shift all of its focus and resources toward the 2026 car project and the major regulation changes that come with it.
In the meantime, Red Bull Racing’s only realistic path to climb up from fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship will be to work intensively on the car setup for each upcoming Grand Prix. However, with only one driver—Max Verstappen—consistently able to score significant points, the team’s road back to the front of the field is looking increasingly steep and challenging.
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