Red Bull team boss Laurent Mekies denies that the introduction of the new regulations in 2026 represents a complete ‘clean slate’ for Red Bull. According to the Frenchman, his team can carry many of the lessons learned in 2025 into the new season. Moreover, the same people – with the same methodology and tools – will design the 2026 car for the Austrian racing stable.
Formula 1 is on the eve of significant regulatory changes. In 2026, the FIA will introduce a new set of rules, and all teams are increasingly focusing on preparing for the next season. Red Bull is also heavily involved in the development of the 2026 car. However, the team is not starting entirely from a ‘clean slate’ next year, reveals team boss Laurent Mekies.
“There are many things we can carry over to 2026,” the Frenchman tells the media. “It’s a clean slate from the perspective of designing a car and obviously designing a power unit. But the fact remains that you will use the same people, the same methodology, the same process, and the same tools to design that car.”
2026
According to Mekies, the further development of the RB21 – Red Bull’s 2025 challenger – also contributes to the development of its successor. “We’ve made no secret of the fact that it was very important for us to try to unravel what was still in the car under the current regulations,” continues the French team boss. “To leave 2025 behind us knowing what the limitations of our tools are, what we understand and what we don’t understand, and thereby design a better car for 2026.”
For Mekies, it’s important that Red Bull has regained more confidence in their working methods for 2026. “There are many areas where you can transfer knowledge,” reveals the Frenchman, who also immediately discloses which areas these are. “Tires are one of them, even though the tires are changing. But more generally, in how you develop the car, where your correlations occur, where not, and all the different sensitivities.”
