Mekies: Red Bull’s Sepang pace came from more than the Baku upgrade

Red Bull’s first win of 2026 at Sepang came from more than its Baku upgrade, team principal Laurent Mekies says. He said the team began the season about a second off the pace and at one point feared it would remain three tenths short. Work on the chassis and power unit helped close that deficit; the Baku package was one part of the wider team effort.

Max Verstappen converted Red Bull’s first pole of the year into victory, losing ground to Mercedes in the early laps before fighting back to finish 2.3 seconds ahead of Kimi Antonelli.

Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer said the victory was more dominant than he expected. Verstappen topped every part of qualifying and posted two laps good enough for pole, Palmer wrote, before asking where Red Bull’s pace had come from.

Red Bull’s intermediate-tyre choice and three clean pit stops also drew praise in RacingNews365’s race analysis, which noted that Mercedes made the same tyre call.

Some of the technical work predated Baku. Paolo Filisetti says revisions to the upper profile of the sidepods and the undercut enabled Red Bull to use a different aerodynamic map from the Spanish Grand Prix onwards; he describes the RB22 as more precise and responsive.

About ten days before Sepang, Red Bull unveiled a further RB22 package in Baku. The team described it as the year’s final major upgrade; it included a new floor body and diffuser, sidepods, cooling louvres, mirrors and a halo fairing. At the Azerbaijan Grand Prix a week before Sepang, Verstappen started eighth, with engine trouble and yellow flags playing a significant role in that position, according to Formula 1 contributor Michael Lamonato. He came within 0.196 seconds of victory.

Filisetti says Sepang’s long straights, final hairpin and medium- and high-speed corners provided an ideal showcase for the gains, while the demands on the power unit were less severe than expected. Mekies cautioned that the circuit’s extreme heat, rough asphalt and layout may also have affected the competitive order, with most cars probably outside their ideal operating windows.

Formula 1 reported that a battery issue restricted Isack Hadjar to fifth. Mekies said Red Bull could have completed another double podium, although not everything went right with Hadjar’s car.

After Sepang, Mekies expected Red Bull to contend for podiums in the coming races but said it was impossible to know whether the team could fight for wins at every circuit. Ahead of Singapore, he said Red Bull hoped the RB22’s performance in slow corners would suit Marina Bay, while rival pace was difficult to estimate. The Singapore Grand Prix is scheduled for 11 October. Filisetti sees Marina Bay’s very different layout as the next test of whether the RB22 can unlock its potential across contrasting circuits.