Laurent Mekies says Red Bull can be proud of the past few weeks. The Austrian outfit ran, during the shakedown in Barcelona and the past two test weeks in Bahrain, for the first time with a power unit of their own making, fulfilling a dream of the late team founder Dietrich Mateschitz. Max Verstappen emphasised there is still ‘work to do’ for Red Bull, but for a first test period the signals are positive.
“For us those first sessions in Barcelona were a source of relief and pride,” Mekies said after the final metres in Bahrain. “It shows what we have already achieved with the first power unit from Red Bull Ford Powertrains.” The team joined forces for 2026 with the American automotive giant. In the run-up to the new season there were still many question marks around that collaboration, but across the test programme it seemed to pay off. Both Red Bull and sister team Racing Bulls looked notably reliable.
“After two weeks of testing in Bahrain we can be proud of what we’ve achieved compared with the established power unit manufacturers,” Mekies confirmed. “The kilometres we covered in nine days are respectable. As I’ve said before, we can safely call that remarkable. It is the result of all the hours of hard work the people in the factory have put into this project.”
‘We must keep working hard’
For now it remains unclear exactly where Red Bull sits relative to the competition. Mekies, too, wants to wait for the first competitive sessions in Melbourne before he makes any calls on the new balance of power. “As for our performance,” he continued, “we’ll only get a picture of that after qualifying in Albert Park. Even with all our technology and simulation tools we can’t say anything about it yet. We know we still have to work very hard to reach the level we have in mind,” he repeated Verstappen’s words. “That’s our next challenge, and we’ll tackle it together as one team.”
Mekies emphasised that he’s looking forward to those first laps in Australia, partly because of the regulation changes. In recent weeks teams and fans have had their first taste of the new F1 era, but it doesn’t really kick off until March. “For the sport as a whole the three sessions in Barcelona and Bahrain were fascinating from so many different perspectives,” he concluded. “Think of the power-unit technology, the fuel, the aerodynamics, the different tyre sizes and, of course, the drivers’ reactions. I believe interest in Formula 1 will already be massive by the time we get to Melbourne.”
