Red Bull's first 2026 win is progress, not proof, Mekies says

Red Bull RacingRed Bull RacingAustria4th POS298 PTS has won a Formula 1Formula 1 World ChampionshipInternational race for the first time in the 2026 season, and Laurent Mekies has described the result as the culmination of the team's gradual upturn in form rather than a sudden change in its fortunes. In remarks reported on 5 October 2026, Mekies said it was too early to tell whether Red Bull can now be in the mix at every round. He also framed the task in terms of Mercedes, indicating that staying on terms with them consistently is difficult.

2026

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POS

4th

PTS

298

WINS

1

POLES

1

Season 2026

How Red Bull closed the gap

Red Bull began the campaign more than a second behind the frontrunners. The recovery has been incremental: the team has chipped away at that deficit across the season rather than finding a single fix, leaning on a steady stream of upgrades. That work reached its first clear reward with the win.

The improvement itself is not in dispute. A car that was over a second adrift in the opening rounds is now capable of winning races. What remains open is whether that competitiveness travels, and Mekies' caution points to the difference between being quick at a circuit that suits the car and being quick at all of them.

Mercedes and the consistency question

Dcmaradiaga · CC BY-SA 4.0

Mercedes appears in the assessment as the reference point. Matching them race after race is difficult, Mekies indicated, which is a different test from winning once. Consistency of that kind usually marks a car with a wide operating window, and it is what separates a single victory from a sustained challenge at the front.

What the win settles, and what it does not

Ismael zniber · CC BY 4.0

This is analysis rather than a claim from the team: a first win of the season confirms that Red Bull's development direction is producing lap time, and it lifts a programme that started the year off the pace. It does not by itself show that the car will be a threat at the circuits where its weaknesses were previously exposed. Upgrades narrow a gap; they do not automatically close it everywhere at once.

What happens next

The remaining rounds will answer the question Mekies has left open. If the car is competitive across a variety of circuits, the win reads as a turning point. If its form swings with the track, it looks more like a high point in an uneven season.

Mekies has not said which circuits he expects Red Bull to be strong at, nor what further changes are planned to the car before the season ends. The team has not said whether it regards itself as a contender for wins at the rounds still to come, and the size of the gap to the front has not been set out.