Laurent Mekies plays down Max Verstappen exit talk amid Red Bull struggles

Red Bull’s start to the F1 2026 season has not been consumed by star driver Max Verstappen’s dislike of the new regulations and his claims that it could be what sees him leave the sport.

Rather, Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies, says that is “one per cent” of his conversations with the four-time world champion, with the other 99 per cent all about what the team can do to improve the RB22.

Laurent Mekies downplays Max Verstappen exit concerns at Red Bull

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At the start of a new engine formula where all five manufacturers – Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull-Ford, Audi and Honda – are being caught out by reliability glitches with the power units and the batteries, some have had it worse than others such as Honda, with the batteries causing unraceable vibrations, while electrical issues with McLaren’s Mercedes PU led to a double DNS at the China Grand Prix.

Only four teams – Mercedes, Ferrari, Alpine, Racing Bulls – have seen the chequered flag with both cars in all three grands prix, while six cars have even had a DNS recorded next to their name.

Nico Hulkenberg and Oscar Piastri didn’t start in Australia, a battery issue for the German and a crash for the Aussie, while in Melbourne the list expanded to Piastri, Lando Norris, Alex Albon, and Gabriel Bortoleto. Three were engine or battery-related, while Albon had a hydraulics issue.

But it’s not the reliability that has been the biggest problem; it’s the way the new engines force a driver to go racing.

No lap is flat-out anymore, not even in qualifying.

Battery harvesting, and super clipping, have become the buzzwords as the drivers sacrifice speed, often on the straights, to harvest energy. Instead of racing flat-out, they are having to lift and coast or resort to super clipping, which is when the electrical system siphons power from the combustion engine into the battery.

Four-time world champion Verstappen disapproves, as it is “anti-racing” and also isn’t “fun”.

He’s made it clear that although he has a Red Bull contract through to 2028, this year may be his last on the Formula 1 grid.

“When you are in P7 or P8 and you are not enjoying the whole formula behind it, it doesn’t feel natural to a racing driver,” he told BBC Sport. “Of course I try to adapt to it, but it’s not nice the way you have to race. It’s really anti-driving. Then at one point, yeah, it’s just not what I want to do.

“I want to be here to have fun and have a great time and enjoy myself. At the moment that’s not really the case.”

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Today, a family man with a daughter and a bonus daughter, Verstappen is looking forward to working with his GT3 team, tackling the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, and enjoying living his life with family and friends.

“It’s a bit sad to be honest that we’re even talking about this,” Verstappen concluded. “It is what it is. You don’t need to feel sorry for me. I’ll be fine.”

But while many of the headlines around Verstappen have been about his thoughts of criticism or his criticism of the regulations, when he is in the Red Bull garages, it is all about seeing what the team can do to improve the car.

“We certainly focus on the competitive picture,” Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies said in Suzuka where Verstappen was P8. “Yes, that’s what we do.

“You know, we are having zero discussions about the other aspects – we’ll come to the regs in a second.

“So we have a lot of work to do. I’m sure by the time we give him a fast car, [he] will be a much, much happier Max, and by the time we give him a car [which] he can push and make the difference, it will also be a happier Max.

“So honestly, that’s 1% of our discussions right now.

“As for the regs, as you know, they are coming with some good aspect and more tricky aspects. And as a sport with the other teams, we will meet in the break to see how we can tweak them, to make it better.”

Formula 1 has a five-week break between Japan and the next race in Miami after the FIA cancelled the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix due to issues in the Middle East.

While it means the teams trailing championship leaders Mercedes will have more time to develop the car back in the factory and in the wind tunnel, no one expects Mercedes will be rest on its laurels.

The first salvo in Formula 1’s development war will be fired at the Miami Grand Prix where there’s already talk that some teams could bring as much as a half a new car.

Where Red Bull could stand in that mix, team principal Mekies admits only the stopwatch will tell.

“Confident that we will use that break to make a very good step forward,” he added.

“We need the time to deep dive into our data, we need the time to simulate back what we see in the data into the tunnel, into our simulator, try some sensitivities, and all of that we can do without racing.

“Does it mean you come to Miami and you have solved everything as a miracle? No.

“But again, I am confident that the teams will get to the bottom of that understanding and start bringing improvements already in Miami. I think that’s what you will see, but only the track and the lap time will give us an indication on whether we are going to the right directions.

“I don’t think we should expect a miracle about the amplitude of closing the gap, because the gap is substantial. But certainly we need to see to have a car where our drivers can push again. Measure a gap to competitions in these conditions when we are able to push, and then the rest will be pure development to the end of the year.

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