Red Bull exposed by Barcelona pace gap, Mekies says
NXTbets Pro | Published On: June 16, 2026
Red Bull pace gap
Red Bull left Barcelona with a clear warning. Laurent Mekies called the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona a reality check after the team failed to match the pace of the front-runners on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya’s fast layout. He said the track, with its long straights and fast corners, exposed the weaknesses Red Bull has been chasing all season. Mekies added that the team was still roughly three to four tenths off the pace needed to fight for pole positions or race wins on similar circuits. That gap framed the whole afternoon. Red Bull could not keep up with the leaders on raw speed, and the team spent the race trying to limit the damage rather than challenge at the front. The message from the paddock was direct. The car still needs more grip, more balance and more pace if Red Bull wants to return to regular contention on circuits that reward efficiency and confidence through the corner.
Verstappen response
Max Verstappen finished fourth in the 66-lap Spanish Grand Prix, and the result did little to soften Red Bull’s concerns. His run to fourth was helped by late technical problems for Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc, and he crossed the line 40 seconds behind race winner Lewis Hamilton. Verstappen said Red Bull has to work harder to close the gap to Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren. He described the team as a work in progress and said Red Bull was the fourth fastest team. He also said the car is still far from race-winning pace on merit. Verstappen pointed to the size of the task ahead, saying Red Bull needs more upgrades and better overall performance to reach the front-runners. He said the team will need major updates to close the gap. He also made clear that Red Bull cannot wait for rivals to fade. The team has to solve its own problems through meaningful development if it wants to move back into the fight for wins.
Red Bull development
Mekies said Red Bull’s weak starts have been a season-long problem that has hurt the team’s competitiveness. That issue has fed into a broader list of concerns in the team’s first year as a power unit manufacturer. Mekies said Red Bull still has many areas to improve, on both the chassis side and the power unit program. The team is looking for incremental gains across the board, including power unit performance, chassis strength, cornering performance and straight-line speed. That work now stretches across every phase of the lap, from launch to braking to the final run down the straight. Red Bull also needs cleaner races from the start, since poor opening laps have forced the team into recovery mode too often. Isack Hadjar gave one more example of that volatility when he finished sixth after a poor start. Hadjar dropped outside the top 10 on lap one even after starting sixth, then fought back to salvage a strong result.
