2026 Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 Team

[f1isgood]

Verstappen will scam a podium out of thin air and the cycle will repeat. This team is finished. I don't see them recovering either. Leadership comes from the top and there's no leadership in a Mintzlaff-appointed-Mekies run team.

I unfortunately agree with this. Mekies is no good and the ADUO decision is proof of how much Red Bull miss Christian. There is no way in hell that Christian would have let that decision have been made. Without Christian it has been easy for Toto running over the rest of the teams in political decisions. Since Mintzlaff started to take control of the team post the death of Mateschitz it has been on a downhill spiral.

Agreed.

[CjC]

You guys can breathe a sigh of relief.

Verstappen signs new Red Bull contract:
https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433 ... grand-prix

[Waz]

Verstappen will scam a podium out of thin air and the cycle will repeat. This team is finished. I don't see them recovering either. Leadership comes from the top and there's no leadership in a Mintzlaff-appointed-Mekies run team.

I unfortunately agree with this. Mekies is no good and the ADUO decision is proof of how much Red Bull miss Christian. There is no way in hell that Christian would have let that decision have been made. Without Christian it has been easy for Toto running over the rest of the teams in political decisions. Since Mintzlaff started to take control of the team post the death of Mateschitz it has been on a downhill spiral.

I still can't understand how Mekies keeps falling uphill. The TP position at RBR was THE top job on the grid at the time. What has he done in the sport to make anyone believe he could do it? Alan Permaine would have been better.

Or they should have thrown a big bag of cash at Wheatley.

[Sergej]

Have a feeling he just signed the end of his winning career, hope to be wrong.

[Rikhart]

You guys can breathe a sigh of relief.

Verstappen signs new Red Bull contract:
https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433 ... grand-prix

Absolutely meaningless, the contract will no doubt have "some clauses" on it.

I doubt he would be as naïve as to not safeguard his easy exit in the event of the team slipping into the midfield, as it appears to be doing for a while now.

[f1isgood]

Verstappen will scam a podium out of thin air and the cycle will repeat. This team is finished. I don't see them recovering either. Leadership comes from the top and there's no leadership in a Mintzlaff-appointed-Mekies run team.

I unfortunately agree with this. Mekies is no good and the ADUO decision is proof of how much Red Bull miss Christian. There is no way in hell that Christian would have let that decision have been made. Without Christian it has been easy for Toto running over the rest of the teams in political decisions. Since Mintzlaff started to take control of the team post the death of Mateschitz it has been on a downhill spiral.

I still can't understand how Mekies keeps falling uphill. The TP position at RBR was THE top job on the grid at the time. What has he done in the sport to make anyone believe he could do it? Alan Permaine would have been better.

Or they should have thrown a big bag of cash at Wheatley.

F1 TP is not some merit based job. He is just a puppet appointee of the new corporate Red Bull. He won't do things that are not in Mintzlaffs interests.

The racing team has long been dead. This is whatever.

[CjC]

You guys can breathe a sigh of relief.

Verstappen signs new Red Bull contract:
https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433 ... grand-prix

Absolutely meaningless, the contract will no doubt have "some clauses" on it.

I doubt he would be as naïve as to not safeguard his easy exit in the event of the team slipping into the midfield, as it appears to be doing for a while now.

Yes, at least it’s a statement of intent by him though.

[f1isgood]

Have a feeling he just signed the end of his winning career, hope to be wrong.

Probably got a even nicer pay check to finish his career. He has achieved what he wanted to and if you believe that, then it makes sense he would just maximize his bank account and move on.

I hope you're wrong but I am not seeing evidence of that.

[Chuckjr]

It’s really his best move atm. Macca won’t give him #1 status. Merc has their own becoming champion about to enter the beginning of his prime. Ferrari is a political mess and has their own driver commitments for the foreseeable future not to mention the shine they would require that Max would not be down for. He is king at Red Bull and will remain king at Red Bull. No other team would or will give him the power and authority like Red Bull. It makes sense.

[euv2]

There's only 1 team he should consider joining if he leaves Red bull and it's Mercedes who look like they won't be changing their lineup for at least another year. Red bull despite its recent struggles is very well placed infrastructure wise to be a championship winning team, state of the art PU facilities with some excellent personnel that's already delivering, new state of the art wind tunnel next season, all placed in a single campus. They just need to improve their chassis side, maybe things will get better with the new WT, or maybe the new people need a bit more time to gel/get comfortable in their new roles, but next season will be very important once the new WT comes into play because there will be no more excuses to hide behind, if they can't show marked improvement from that point, the team will need a bigger overhaul, and that will take way more time.

Yeah, always felt it was going to be Red Bull, Mercedes was the only other team that made sense, with George potentially being replaced. MCL look pretty satisfied with their driver lineup.

The hope is this contract extension shows RBR employees and other top tier personnel on other teams that RBR is still heavily invested in being the best.

[Wouter]

[Badger]

Seems to me most RB "fans" in this forum have simply been spoiled senseless by the golden years and now consider anything less than winning to be "midfield". They have a competitive engine in their first year and the chassis has come along quite nicely since the start of the year, hence why Max has 3 podiums in the last 4 races (should have been 6 in the last 7 if we account for Monaco and Silverstone). The front of the field is already converging between Merc, Ferrari, and McLaren, with Red Bull converging too but still lagging a few tenths behind. With a new wind tunnel coming online shortly I don't see why RB won't be able to compete for championships again in the coming years. This isn't like the Renault years when they were held back forever because of something outside of their control, this version of RB is one good chassis upgrade away from becoming genuinely competitive. Max sees that which is why he saw it fit to end any speculation about his immediate future and give peace of mind to the team. The contract will obviously have clauses but I think this pretty much guarantees we have Max at RB for the next couple of years.

[lio007]

Finally!
I'm happy for the team and Max.

[wiktor977]

You guys can breathe a sigh of relief.

Verstappen signs new Red Bull contract:
https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433 ... grand-prix

No surprise

[ME4ME]

Seems to me most RB "fans" in this forum have simply been spoiled senseless by the golden years and now consider anything less than winning to be "midfield". They have a competitive engine in their first year and the chassis has come along quite nicely since the start of the year, hence why Max has 3 podiums in the last 4 races (should have been 6 in the last 7 if we account for Monaco and Silverstone). The front of the field is already converging between Merc, Ferrari, and McLaren, with Red Bull converging too but still lagging a few tenths behind. With a new wind tunnel coming online shortly I don't see why RB won't be able to compete for championships again in the coming years. This isn't like the Renault years when they were held back forever because of something outside of their control, this version of RB is one good chassis upgrade away from becoming genuinely competitive. Max sees that which is why he saw it fit to end any speculation about his immediate future and give peace of mind to the team. The contract will obviously have clauses but I think this pretty much guarantees we have Max at RB for the next couple of years.

Exactly, it's not all doom and gloom even though people have left and the team is currently going through a relativly tough time. They are still a top team. I also expect that Verstappens public commitment to Red Bull Racing will help with recruitment of new talent.