Red Bull issues stark conclusion despite Canada breakthrough

The Austrian outfit’s team boss was quick to highlight how the circuit characteristics could be a factor in the success recorded at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, despite acknowledging that Red Bull had made an improvement in closing the gap to the front of the field.

“I guess, for the big picture, I see at the very least we confirmed the Miami steps. I think we've done a bit more than the Miami step in the way that I think we have managed to take a little bit of performance away from the top guys. Just looking at the lap time now, it was 3 tenths yesterday in Quali. But I think today we were a bit closer than the half-second deficit that we had in Miami. In Miami, we finished 40 seconds from the win. So I think it was a bit closer here now,” Mekies explained to GPblog, among others in Canada.

“There is probably no reason to get too excited in a way that you could also have a track layout effect. It's a track that could be forgiving for certain aspects of the car. But I think at the very least, again, we confirmed Miami. I think the guys managed to get something more. And if you consider that the competition had another flow of updates this weekend, I think it's just confirming that we are going in the right direction,” he added.

At the Canadian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen, who, alongside teammate Isack Hadjar, endured relatively challenging sessions during the Sprint race and much of qualifying, finished the race in third and fifth place, respectively. For Verstappen, the Dutch driver had held on to second place for much of the race in the aftermath of George Russell’s DNF due to a power unit issue. But ultimately, he would lose his second place to Lewis Hamilton in the charging Scuderia Ferrari.

Hadjar also recorded his best result since his switch to Red Bull, despite being handed multiple penalties by the race stewards for an incident involving Charles Leclerc and a subsequent yellow flag infringement.

While Mekies was largely measured about the success achieved by Red Bull in Canada, Verstappen again hit out at the current F1 regulations. The Dutch driver, who admitted to enjoying his battle with Hamilton, noted how the regulations were not the reason behind the great on-track battle they had. According to the four-time world champion, drivers could still put on a good show even in “rental cars”.

Verstappen has largely not held back his frustration with the current generation of cars. When asked about the current regulations and whether it is becoming second nature to use the battery more tactically, he continued his criticism in Montreal.

“We could put a show on with rental cars,” he said after his first podium of the 2026 F1 season in Canada. “I mean, for me, even this season, of course, I’ve been racing also different kinds of cars and especially last week, that reminds me how pure motorsport can be and how great the racing can be. So when I come back into Formula 1, the thing is, of course, here, especially most of the drivers, we’re the best in the world.”

“So even if you would give us a rental car, we’ll give you a good show, and we’ll race each other very hard and well. So it has nothing to do with the rules in that sense. But for me, while driving, yeah, it’s all a bit confusing. It’s not what Formula 1 should be about. It’s way too complex, all of this,” he concluded.