Max Verstappen cut the gap to McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris once again in Singapore, his third consecutive race ahead of the papaya duo. With six rounds left, the Dutchman’s chances of fighting for the Championship are still discussed and revisited by fans and media alike.
On paper, the Dutchman needs a lot of things to go in his favour for a chance of defending his title. At the same time, Red Bull’s pace in Singapore – a traditionally difficult track for the team – was encouraging.
The Milton Keynes outfit have expended significant resources to improve the RB21. A combination of upgrades and new procedures have delivered results for Laurent Mekies and his personnel. In the budget cap era, however, this late-season push comes at a cost.
Speaking after last weekend’s race, Mekies explained how this year’s development affects the 2026 Red Bull package.
Mekies outlines Red Bull development sacrifices
For large parts of the year, Red Bull have been scratching their heads at the inconsistencies and irregularities of the RB21. Prior to Max Verstappen’s Monza victory, McLaren were claiming relatively comfortable victories in a routine basis – with only anomalies interrupting their winning streaks.
Since joining the team, Laurent Mekies has overseen a notable turnaround. The car is far more compliant than earlier in the season, with Verstappen now giving much more positive feedback about his 2025 challenger.
In Monza and Baku, two very different circuits, Red Bull claimed victory with the Dutchman behind the wheel. It could be argued that at both events McLaren were fast enough to win – were it not for driver error and operational mistakes.
Regardless, Red Bull feel they are competitive enough to win on pace at several circuits – and they believe Verstappen can compensate for a deficit of a few tenths to McLaren. This doesn’t mean the Championship is realistic, but the quadruple World Champion is certainly within range.
For all this progress, the team’s resource allocation towards 2026 becomes a massive question.
As quoted by The Race, Mekies explains some of Red Bull’s sacrifices with next year’s project:
“It was and it is very important that we get to understand if the [2025] project has more performance.
“It’s important we get to the bottom of it. Because we will elaborate next year’s project – even if next year’s regulations are completely different – with the same tools and methodology.
“And it’s very important that we validate with this year’s car how we are looking at the data is correct, how we are developing the car is correct. [Understanding changes] that produced that level of development, that will give us confidence in the winter for next year’s car.
“Of course it comes at a cost undoubtedly for the 2026 project. But we feel it’s the right trade-off for us, without judging what the other guys are doing.”
Two mountains for Red Bull to climb
Winning this year’s Championship is already a huge challenge, and one that is not entirely within Red Bull’s control. They will rely on unforced errors from McLaren and near faultless performances from Verstappen to stand a chance.
It will also be important for either Mercedes or McLaren to take points away from Piastri and Norris. Whilst not impossible, all three of these things coinciding is obviously unlikely.
Nonetheless, Red Bull feel it was worth taking the risk and continuing their development with the RB21. The Austrian team understand that 2026 will be a challenge regardless of how early they shift their priorities. After all, it would take a near-miraculous effort from the engineers at Milton Keynes to deliver a top engine at the first time of asking.
To be clear, this does not mean Red Bull cannot be competitive next year. They were the fastest team in 2022 despite switching their focus to the ground-effect regulations later than Mercedes and Ferrari.
Starting first, then, does not guarantee more performance. Laurent Mekies and his squad have committed to a high-risk approach. With two massive hurdles to overcome, the team are backing themselves to hit two birds with one stone.
Main photo: Mark Thompson/Getty Images (via Red Bull content pool)
