Laurent Mekies claims Max Verstappen has won F1 titles with Red Bull cars similar to this year

Photo: © IMAGO

Max Verstappen

Laurent Mekies claims Max Verstappen has won F1 titles with Red Bull cars similar to this year

Max Verstappen may struggle to come back from his current points deficit in the standings

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Friday 31 July 2026 21:44

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Red Bull F1 boss Laurent Mekies has suggested that his Red Bull team have won many championships with a car similar to the one that they have now.

Four-time world champion Max Verstappen has not been happy with his RB22 throughout the 2026 season, constantly bemoaning its inconsistencies throughout grand prix weekends.

Verstappen was angered by his car during qualifying for the Hungarian GP, when he spun at the end of Q3 to end his hopes of pole position, and only two penalties to drivers around him helped him start the race up in fourth. Verstappen then remarkably managed to finish second in the race, and admitted himself that he was shocked by that result given the car.

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The Dutchman has not managed to claim a single grand prix win so far in 2026, and is all the way down in sixth in the drivers' championship.

But three podiums in his last four grand prix has raised the spirits at Red Bull, and means that he's now only 110 points off the top of the drivers' championship.

Is Verstappen still in the championship fight in 2026?

While that gap may seem large, Verstappen was over 100 points from the top at this stage in 2025, and launched a stellar comeback to finish just two points behind eventual champion Lando Norris in the end. That was despite his Red Bull car being a largely inconsistent beast compared to Norris and Oscar Piastri's McLaren.

That was evidenced by Yuki Tsunoda only claiming 30 points from 22 grand prix weekends in the same car as Verstappen.

Now, Verstappen's boss Mekies has been talking about how the team will make their way back to the top of the sport in 2026, while also hinting that their problems in qualifying sessions has been a feature of Red Bull cars for many years.

"That’s right, the road back to the top isn’t exactly smooth or easy," Mekies told De Telegraaf. "Our performances aren’t consistent. Positive weekends, such as in Austria and Belgium, are interspersed with less successful ones at Silverstone and in Budapest - at least in practice and qualifying.

"To put it simply: when the car does what it’s supposed to do, our drivers can make the most of it. Otherwise, it immediately becomes very difficult for them. That shows that our car operates within a very narrow window."

Continuing, Mekies admitted that this has been the case with several Red Bull cars over the years.

"I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s a Red Bull trademark, but you’re right that this isn’t a one-off. But we have to be honest; Red Bull Racing has also won many championships with this type of car.

"It’s just more noticeable now because we’re the hunters and not the prey."

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F1 Red Bull Max Verstappen Laurent Mekies