Laurent Mekies Confirms Red Bull Strategy Review After Austrian GP

Laurent Mekies confirmed that Red Bull Racing will review its race strategy following the 2026 Austrian Grand Prix, where Max Verstappen finished just 1.611 seconds behind race winner George Russell.

Verstappen produced one of his strongest drives of the season after recovering from fifth on the grid, following his qualifying crash. The Dutchman climbed through the field before mounting a sustained challenge against Russell, while also holding off the late charge from Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

Mekies described the pace of the RB22 as the most encouraging aspect of the weekend, insisting Red Bull finally had a car capable of fighting Mercedes for victory.

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"The most satisfying element was the pace. For the first time this season we had the pace to be very, very close to having enough to win. Credit goes to everyone back in Milton Keynes. It doesn't happen very often that you recover more than one second of performance delta within a few races, and the season is still very long," Mekies said.

However, Red Bull elected to keep Verstappen on track six laps longer during the second pit-stop cycle instead of attempting an aggressive undercut on Russell. The strategy immediately prompted questions over whether an earlier stop could have delivered victory.

Mekies admitted the team would analyse that scenario in detail, while also noting that Mercedes still had the option of leaving Antonelli on track as a buffer had Verstappen attempted the undercut.

"It is something we will review, of course. Kimi was probably the fastest driver out there, Max was perhaps a little quicker than George, but starting position still matters. We paid the price for starting further back, although this is definitely a step in the right direction for the whole team," he added.

Although Red Bull missed the opportunity to secure victory at its home race, the Austrian Grand Prix demonstrated clear progress in the RB22's competitiveness. The team will now combine its performance gains with a detailed strategic review as it prepares for the next round of the 2026 Formula 1 season.