Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has praised Red Bull’s remarkable recovery during the 2026 Formula 1 season, admitting that Max Verstappen is now clearly dominant and has the best package on the grid. After a difficult start to the year, Red Bull has returned to winning form, with the Dutch driver producing a series of impressive performances.
Three pole positions and three race victories across the last two weekends, together with eight podium finishes in the last eight Grands Prix he has completed, underline the scale of Max Verstappen’s resurgence. Red Bull’s transformation has not happened overnight, however, with its progress stretching back several months and reflecting the work of both the driver and team principal Laurent Mekies, who has recently extended his contract until 2031.
Red Bull’s remarkable 2026 comeback puts Max Verstappen back on top
It now seems a distant memory that Max Verstappen was complaining about the behaviour of his car while Red Bull struggled for competitiveness, at times appearing lost in the midfield. The Milton Keynes team has once again demonstrated its exceptional ability to turn around a difficult Formula 1 campaign.
Victories in Malaysia and Singapore have confirmed that Red Bull is back among the leading contenders. Although the recovery has come too late to revive its hopes of winning the 2026 championship, the team has already laid down a challenge to Mercedes for the 2027 season.
The turnaround also highlights the contribution of Laurent Mekies, whose leadership has coincided with significant improvements in Red Bull’s performance. Combined with Max Verstappen’s ability to extract the maximum from the car, those developments have transformed the team’s competitive position.
Toto Wolff praises Red Bull development and Max Verstappen’s dominance
Toto Wolff has overseen a dominant opening phase of the 2026 Formula 1 season for Mercedes, but the Austrian has not hesitated to acknowledge the achievements of his rivals. He believes Red Bull deserves considerable credit for its development work and its ability to reinvent itself when faced with difficulties.
“You really have to take your hat off to what Red Bull have done this year, how they have developed the car and how they continue to reinvent themselves. And when you have Verstappen in the car, feeling that he has the car under control, these are the results.”
The Mercedes team principal also highlighted an interesting aspect of Red Bull’s performance: the differences between Max Verstappen and his team-mate when the car is developed into a package that particularly suits the Dutch driver’s driving style.
“It’s interesting to note that when the car becomes fast for Max, it becomes slower for his team-mate, or at least not as competitive. Maybe Max has found the perfect chemistry with the car again. Right now, he is clearly dominant and has the best package.
“Let’s see whether our upgrade finally starts working and reaches the level we expect, and whether we can be competitive against him.”
Toto Wolff’s comments underline the challenge facing Mercedes. Although the team has enjoyed a highly successful 2026 campaign, the recent improvements at Red Bull have created a new competitive benchmark, particularly with Max Verstappen able to exploit the car’s performance so effectively.
Mercedes hopes its latest upgrade can challenge Red Bull
Despite Red Bull’s recent dominance, Mercedes still has potential performance improvements to unlock. Toto Wolff believes the team has developments that have not yet delivered their expected benefits, leaving open the possibility of further progress before the end of the season.
The Mercedes team principal is therefore waiting to see whether the team’s latest upgrade can finally operate at the level anticipated by its engineers. If that happens, Mercedes could have an opportunity to challenge Max Verstappen more effectively, even as Red Bull continues to demonstrate impressive race-winning form.
For Red Bull, meanwhile, the recovery is particularly significant because it extends beyond chassis development. The team has also succeeded in creating a highly competitive power unit from scratch, immediately challenging manufacturers with decades of experience in Formula 1 engine production.
Red Bull Powertrains success also reflects Christian Horner’s legacy
Red Bull’s achievements in 2026 are not limited to its recent improvement on the track. The development of a fast and effective power unit represents another major accomplishment for a team that entered the new regulatory era with its own engine project.
Credit for that achievement also belongs to those who believed in the Red Bull Powertrains initiative from the beginning, including former team principal Christian Horner, who departed in July 2025 after two decades of success with the organisation.
By establishing a competitive engine operation and recovering from its early-season struggles, Red Bull has demonstrated its ability to respond to major technical challenges. The combination of an increasingly competitive car, an effective power unit and Max Verstappen’s exceptional performances has restored the team’s position at the front.
Although the 2026 championship appears beyond reach, the recent victories in Malaysia and Singapore have strengthened Red Bull’s outlook for 2027. For Mercedes and Toto Wolff, the challenge is now to ensure their own development programme can keep pace with a rival that has rediscovered its winning formula.
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