The 2026 Formula 1 season continues to deliver intense battles at the sharp end of the grid, with Red Bull establishing a strong presence on the podium nine times through Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar. The Milton Keynes squad took a definitive next step forward at the chaotic Grand Prix weekend bridging Bahrain and Malaysia, where they secured their maiden victory of the campaign and the first-ever triumph for Red Bull Powertrains at the Sepang International Circuit.
Amidst the scorching temperatures in Malaysia, Verstappen delivered a masterclass performance by securing pole position on Saturday before converting it into a dominant race victory on Sunday. Meanwhile, his teammate Hadjar initially starred in qualifying by claiming third place, though a subsequent grid penalty forced him to start down in eighth position before fighting his way back.
Following the successful outing, Red Bull Racing Team Principal Laurent Mekies expressed firm belief that his team will remain deeply entrenched in the fight for podium finishes moving forward. However, he maintained a cautious stance, emphasizing that Mercedes remains the definitive benchmark and the hardest team to consistently match across a grueling championship calendar.
As reported by Crash.net, Mekies candidly admitted that the pecking order witnessed in Malaysia caught the team somewhat off guard. While the result validated an ongoing upward trajectory observed across previous rounds in Monza, Madrid, and Baku where incremental performance gains were unlocked, he noted that extreme track conditions and asphalt roughness might have temporarily pushed rival packages outside their optimal operating windows.
"We were surprised by the pecking order in Malaysia," Mekies said after the event. "On one side, it's confirming the positive trend now with Monza, with Madrid, with Baku. We have been adding a little bit of performance at every race, which is great. On the other side, are there other factors that have influenced what we have seen in Malaysia? Possibly, with the extreme heat and the track roughness and the layout of the track, I'm sure most of the cars out there were out of their ideal operating window. Did that affect the picking order? It's possible."
Looking ahead to the upcoming rounds, Mekies explained that the team's overarching approach to race weekends remains grounded. While characteristics of upcoming circuits like Singapore are anticipated to better suit their low-speed cornering capabilities, forecasting rival performance remains a complex challenge in the closely-fought 2026 technical era.
"Does it change anything in the way we approach the next races? Not really. We will try to adapt as best as we can next, and we'll see. We still think that Singapore will hopefully suit us in terms of slow-speed corner performance. What the competition will do is very, very difficult to understand," he explained.
Concluding his assessment, Mekies reiterated that securing regular podium finishes is a realistic expectation given their recent consistency, though acknowledging that dethroning Mercedes as the outright race-winning reference remains a formidable task.
"I think we will be in the fight for the podium for the coming races, because fundamentally we have been in the fight for the podium for a number of races now: six, seven, eight. So, I think we'll be in that fight. Will we be in the fight for the win? I think Mercedes has always been in the fight for the win. We have seen that it's been very difficult to be consistently on par with Mercedes for everyone at all the races," Mekies concluded.
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