Red Bull set to ‘make an early call’ on 2026 F1 development push

Laurent Mekies has revealed that Red Bull will at least slow its development rate after the Formula 1 summer break, with the team set to 'make a call' on its exact strategy.

When the 2026 season began, Mercedes was comfortably clear of the chasing pack, but as the season has progressed, this margin has been significantly closed by McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull. 

Such has been the level of upgrades produced by this trio of teams that Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has questioned how they have been able to bring so many updates across the first half of the year, but Mekies' comments highlight that this is set to change in the coming races.

"I don't know about the other guys, [but] what is sure is that at some stage, we'll need to make a call on the balance between this year and next year," he said. 

"I expect that to happen earlier than we did last year. So, especially as the regulations are what they are, we will decide. 

"But as far as we are concerned, we have brought a huge amount of development to the car between Race 1 and here [Hungary], in order to try to correct as soon as possible the large deficit we had initially.

"It's probably difficult to imagine that we will continue at that rhythm, but nonetheless, we need to see what is the best way to try and close these last three tenths."

Red Bull ended the first half of the season with its best result of the year as Max Verstappen finished second to Lando Norris, equalling the Dutchman's finish at the Austrian Grand Prix. 

"In terms of before the race predictions, for what it was, we felt Lando and the two Ferraris would be out of touch," said Mekies. 

"That's how we felt. And we felt we could race the Mercedes and, and probably Oscar [Piastri]. As it turned out, we could race both Ferraris, and Lando was out of reach."