‘Second season launch’ – Red Bull sees ‘opportunity’ with Miami Grand Prix upgrades

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has predicted a “second season launch” at the Miami Grand Prix, such will be the rate of change among the teams.

The 2026 campaign was already predicted to have a high rate of development given it is the start of a new regulation cycle, and teams will be hard at work during this unplanned April gap to create as much as possible.

Laurent Mekies says Miami upgrades could reset 2026 season battle

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Mekies has acknowledged the gap Red Bull needs to make up to the front of the field, with around a second per lap separating the team from the front-running Mercedes at this stage.

Carlos Sainz explained the importance of not just bringing upgrades, but that any changes will only have a real-world impact if they have a better effect than those around them.

Following the cancellations of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian grands prix, the teams are in the middle of what is likely to be an intense working window as factories have not been shut down for the intervening period between races.

Given that, along with the lessons learned from the first three rounds of the season, Mekies predicts a significant shift in how the grid may look once Formula 1 restarts in Miami.

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Explaining Red Bull’s situation on the Beyond the Grid podcast, Mekies said: “Only looking at the sporting aspect of it, without judging the gravity of the events, it’s clear that it’s been such a short winter for the team with the new power unit.

“Again, with the new regs, that the chance to regroup is is certainly welcome at the stage of the season.

“If you add to that the fact that the competition is ahead right now, we are the fourth team right now, and therefore that time to go deeper into the data, to go deeper into the root cause of where we think the gaps are coming from, and to have a chance to slightly alter the development route to catch up quicker, we think it’s an opportunity.

“I think it will be a bit like a second season launch when we are back at the track in Miami because, of course, every team is engaged into this massive development race.

“So, you will see every car on the grid changing significantly with upgrades in Miami, so we will only be as good as we are relative to the others, and it’s going to be a new starting point, and one that will certainly start to give indications about where the season is going.”

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