Racing Bulls unveiled a special yellow “Summer Edition” livery and matching team kit ahead of the 2026 Miami Grand Prix. The team described the look as a “summer-sun yellow” treatment inspired by Red Bull’s Summer Edition Sudachi Lime, and the scheme replaces Racing Bulls’ traditional white-and-blue identity for a one-off Miami appearance. Descriptions of the finish varied among observers, with some calling it yellow-and-black and others noting a vivid yellow-and-chrome scheme with a citrus-texture pattern, and the design features prominent Red Bull branding on the engine cover.

The reveal was staged as a visual PR moment as the Racing Bulls car cruised into Kiki On The River by yacht, and drivers Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad first saw the new design while riding Ski-Doos on the water. The yellow theme extended across the garage, with the drivers set to wear yellow overalls and mechanics and trackside staff in matching apparel. CEO Peter Bayer said Miami is a special place for the team to express its identity and that the livery “injects vibrant energy and demonstrates a willingness to push creative boundaries,” and the team framed the change as a branding statement rather than a technical update.

Paddock observers immediately compared the treatment to Jordan’s bright yellow liveries from the late 1990s and early 2000s, a resemblance some noted felt more resonant following the passing of Jordan founder Eddie Jordan in March 2025. The Miami special follows Racing Bulls’ recent practice of one-off designs, such as a cherry blossom livery in Japan, and drew contrast with rival presentations, including Cadillac’s more monochrome appearance and its updated home Grand Prix livery that adds the Star Spangled Banner across the rear flanks as a nod to U.S. roots.

Oscar Piastri told the High Performance podcast that he and teammate Lando Norris deliberately protected the McLaren team environment during their heated 2025 intra-team title fight to avoid long-term damage. He described tense on-track incidents, including his surge in Saudi Arabia, team orders at the Italian Grand Prix asking him to give Norris second place, collisions in Canada, contact at the Singapore start, an incident in the United States Sprint and an on-track episode in Mexico. Piastri said those moments usually ended with cordial exchanges, private resolutions and a handshake. He warned that if the rivalry had turned ‘nasty’ it could have threatened one of them not wearing McLaren’s papaya orange in 2026.

Piastri credited McLaren’s culture of full data sharing and accountability with keeping tensions under control. He said drivers generally continued to cooperate and share information across the garage, and that openness and clear responsibility helped contain conflict through the season.

The title fight tested the team but held firm. Piastri led by 32 points into the summer break after a Zandvoort win, while Norris retired there and then mounted a late comeback that culminated in a decisive Abu Dhabi victory to take the 2025 Drivers’ Championship. Norris finished 13 points ahead of Piastri, with Max Verstappen between them, and McLaren placed third in the Constructors’ Championship.

Piastri said the episode showed future title fights will again test team harmony. He believes professionalism and pragmatic teamwork persisted into races such as Suzuka and when the season resumed in Miami.

Red Bull sporting boss Laurent Mekies said Max Verstappen’s decision will not be affected by recent staff departures and confirmed the driver is contracted through 2028. Mekies said he speaks with Verstappen daily and called him someone who “lives and breathes” the team. He answered “Absolutely not” when asked whether recent exits raise the chance Verstappen will leave, and he noted the driver has publicly expressed unhappiness with the new 2026 hybrid power unit and has signaled he is considering his F1 future. Mekies also reminded reporters that Verstappen’s deal contains performance clauses that could permit an earlier exit if he is not in the top two by the summer break.

Gianpiero Lambiase, Verstappen’s race engineer since May 2016, has agreed to join McLaren as chief racing officer by 2028, Red Bull said. Red Bull added Lambiase will remain at the team until the end of 2027, though media reports say McLaren is trying to secure him sooner. Mekies described the departures as routine evolution, said the leavers are a small portion of the workforce and called morale at Red Bull’s Milton Keynes base fantastic. He pointed to internal promotions and heavy recruiting, saying the team hired roughly 120 people this year and about 400 in the last nine months.

Mekies conceded the team has work to do after a difficult start to the season, with Verstappen ninth in the standings after three races and a best finish of sixth. He estimated Red Bull faced about a one-second-per-lap deficit to the front-runners and attributed roughly 0.3 seconds of that gap to Red Bull’s in-house power unit. Red Bull will bring a major upgrade to the Miami Grand Prix that Verstappen tested at Silverstone, targeting aerodynamic and chassis weaknesses. Formula 1 has adjusted power-unit rules in the five weeks since the Japan race, and Mekies said short-term tweaks ahead of Miami should help qualifying energy management and closing-speed differentials, while longer-term hardware changes such as increasing fuel flow toward a roughly 60:40 internal combustion to electrical split remain under consideration. The Miami Sprint weekend, featuring a 19-lap Sprint and a 57-lap Grand Prix, is being treated as an early test of whether the rule tweaks and upgrades help close the gap and influence Verstappen’s long-term decision.