Mekies plays down ’26 impact of current upgrades

Continued upgrade programme for this season will not compromise 2026, insists Laurent Mekies.

While most teams – especially McLaren – have switched focus to next season, Red Bull continues to bring upgrades as it seeks to help Max Verstappen to his fifth successive title.

Since the season-changing upgrades at Monza, barely a race has passed without further new parts for the RB21.

However, while the Dutchman threatens to deliver one of the most astounding comebacks in the sport’s history, there is concern that his team’s continued focus on this season will impact his 2026 chances.

Not so, insists team boss, Laurent Mekies.

“We are doing it this way because we think for us, let alone the other guys, we think for us it’s a net gain,” says the Frenchman.

“We know it’s a price to pay,” he admits, “but we think it’s reasonable and we think it’s worth it.

“With regards to why we have kept developing this car, perhaps a little bit more than competitors, it’s nothing to do with ’26,” he insists. “It was, I think, as we have commented on a few times, if we were turning the page at the point of the season where we were very unhappy about this car, not reaching the full potential, then you would go to 2026 with a lot of questions in your head and with a lot of wishful thinking.

“We have preferred to say we invested a little bit more in this car,” he continues. “We tried to unlock what we felt had not worked and got a bit of performance out of it. That also gave us a lot more confidence in the tools, methodologies, approaches going into 2026.

“Yes, there is of course a lot of time and energy left for that, but that’s the rationale behind it. Nothing to do with PU performance whatsoever.”