Red Bull handed frustrating blow after a theory about copying Racing Bulls
Red Bull won't borrow any elements from VCARB 02 to make its car more driveable, says Laurent Mekies.
Laurent Mekies has explained why Red Bull cannot copy the design of Racing Bulls’ 2025 Formula 1 car to fix its current issues.
The two teams owned by the energy drinks giant have faced contrasting fortunes in F1 this year. Its flagship squad operating under the Red Bull name has gone from winning the drivers’ title with Max Verstappen in 2024 to failing to finish on the podium in the last four races.
On the other hand, the rebranded Racing Bulls outfit has nearly equalled its points tally from last year with 10 races still to run.
Most of Red Bull’s struggles in 2025 stem from the RB21, which has a very narrow operating window and has been described as a very difficult car to drive.
In stark contrast, the VCARB 02 appears more driver-friendly, having been designed in such a way that the engineers can easily bring in the right performance window.
Red Bull cannot copy Racing Bulls
While a simple solution for Red Bull would be to take inspiration from its sister outfit, team boss Mekies has warned that it’s not so simple.
When asked if his current team could borrow design elements from Racing Bulls, Mekies told Sky Sports F1: “I think the question is fair, but there's a genesis of the car.
“Where the cars are coming from is too different for anyone to transfer anything from one car to another.”
F1 regulation require teams to design and build their own cars, and as such, a direct exchange of IP between the two Red Bull-owned teams would not be permitted.
However, it is not uncommon for teams’ design choices to be influenced by what their rivals are doing, especially if a particular concepts can unlock a clear performance gain.
However, with more than half the season gone and an entirely new set of technical rules coming in 2026, Mekies ruled out Red Bull taking anything meaningful from the VCARB02.
“It’s what Formula 1 is today, it’s 10 independent teams all coming with their own ideas about where to develop the car, what difficulties they found along the way, which development paths they have ended up having due to that,” said Mekies, who was promoted from the Faenza squad after Christian Horner’s sudden dismissal from Red Bull.
“And there is nothing you could take from one car to another.
“It’s really down to how it was developed from early on.”
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Rachit joined the Crash.net team in 2025 with a primary focus on F1 and sportscar racing.
He previously served as a news editor at Motorsport.com, where he played a key role in the day-to-day editorial operations.
