– With fifth place, Max Verstappen achieved the best result so far for Red Bull in the 2026 Formula 1 season in Miami. And if the Dutchman hadn’t spun right at the start of the race, an even better result might have been possible.
Laurent Mekies therefore definitely sees progress at Red Bull after the Miami weekend. “In Japan, we were 1.2 seconds behind pole position, in China 1.0 seconds,” the team principal recalls.
“That this weekend on Friday [in the sprint qualifying] we were only six tenths behind pole position and on Saturday less than two tenths, is clear proof of how big our progress is,” Mekies emphasizes.
In fact, Verstappen also achieved the best Red Bull result so far in a 2026 qualifying with P2 in Miami on Saturday. Only 0.166 seconds were missing to the pole time of championship leader Kimi Antonelli in the Mercedes.
Although Mekies admits that it is not yet entirely clear whether this gap to the front is realistic or rather the 0.592 seconds that Verstappen was still behind the best time on Friday. Either way, it was “much better” in Miami than ever before this season.
Mekies: Podium might have been possible
For the team principal, this performance leap is basically not surprising, as he explains: “We knew that besides the race in development, we also had to solve some of our problems.”
Thus, Red Bull not only brought an upgrade to the car in Miami that delivered additional performance. It also succeeded in solving some problems from the first races, when Verstappen and teammate Isack Hadjar did not feel comfortable in the RB22.
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According to Mekies, they knew that they had not gotten the maximum out of the package in the first races of the season. In Miami, through the upgrade and the better feeling for Verstappen, there was therefore a double step forward.
However, it is also clear to the team principal that Red Bull has not yet reached the level of the absolute top. Verstappen had a “strong” race pace, but even without the spin, according to Mekies, it would have been “not strong enough” for one of the first two places.
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Meaning: In the duel for the win between Antonelli and world champion Lando Norris in the McLaren, they probably would not have been able to intervene even with a perfect race. Verstappen himself also emphasizes that they are moving in the right direction but have not yet reached the level of the competitors.
Nevertheless, Mekies’ conclusion after Miami is positive, because in his opinion, without Verstappen’s spin, they could at least have made it to the podium, which would also have been a first for Red Bull this season.
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At the same time, Mekies also makes it clear: “We have not yet achieved everything we set out to do.” They still need to get more out of the package, especially since McLaren and Mercedes have already announced that they will bring more new parts at the upcoming race in Canada.
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Verstappen also reminds that Montreal is “a completely different track” than Miami. So they first have to wait and see if they can be similarly competitive there. Either way, in his opinion, further progress will be needed to completely close the gap to the front in the future.
