Oct.30 (GMM) Red Bull’s season-long weakness off the line is unlikely to be fully solved until next year’s car, according to team principal Laurent Mekies.
Both Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar again struggled at the start in Austin, with Hadjar saying the clutch system remains a major problem and should be redesigned.
Mekies said the issue is too complex for a quick fix.
“This is a complex problem,” he said in Mexico.
“Performance in the first few metres affects pretty much every department in our factory, except perhaps aerodynamics.”
“It involves the engine, the gearbox, the clutch – there are many things involved.”
He said Red Bull has improved compared with the beginning of the season, but is still behind its rivals.
“We are not the best when it comes to starting performance,” the Frenchman acknowledged.
“And the fact that our car has been significantly improved since then, allowing us to compete at the front, makes this disadvantage even more painful.”
Mekies expects some progress before the end of 2026, but not a complete solution.
“We won’t have the best starts in the field by the end of the season,” he warned.
“That would require some significant hardware changes, and we won’t be able to do that until we look ahead to next year.”