Mekies delivers blunt verdict on Red Bull’s current F1 performance gap

The Red Bull team principal, speaking on the Beyond the Grid podcast, avoided pinpointing a single weakness in the RB22, instead stressing that the team is focused on overall performance optimisation.

“Look, we think it’s 360 degrees. We don’t believe there’s one specific area to focus on. In itself, that’s already an incredible achievement. The fact that the power unit isn’t identified as a specific weakness, but rather just one area like every other that needs improvement to reach the level of the benchmark, which is Mercedes today, is already such an incredible achievement,” Mekies explained.

The 48-year-old, however, emphasised the positive progress the team has made, particularly with its power unit programme and overall growth, while underlining the focus on closing the gap to the front.

“The fact that this power unit was not existing three or four years ago, the factory was not existing, we had no people, and now we are 700 people there. We have this incredible partnership with Ford, and we turned up at the first race, and it felt very normal. And the only thing we are looking at is the gap to first place. You know, which is substantial now, but that’s, you know, we are all pointing towards looking at what we need to do to close that gap,” Mekies added.

Mekies concluded by noting how the team’s decision to push the chassis development of its 2025 car has had a knock-on effect on its 2026 project, describing it as a challenge the squad is ready to embrace.

The Red Bull team have endured a challenging start to the current campaign, and it currently lies sixth in the Constructors’ Championship, 119 points off the pace-setting Mercedes team.

Earlier, former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher urged the Red Bull team to consider an overhaul of its technical structure. The former Williams driver noted the need for more experienced hands to help close the gap to the front of the grid.

Schumacher, however, stopped short of urging the team to consider axing current technical director Pierre Waché.

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