Mekies after qualifying in Barcelona: 'The hard work is paying off'

Published on 13 June 2026 by Julien Lemmen

Laurent Mekies, CEO and team principal of Oracle Red Bull Racing, said after the qualifying in Barcelona: "As a team, we are never going to be happy with P5 and P6. But, it’s fair to say we expected a bit of a reality check here in Barcelona because of the nature of the track, with its long straight and high speed corners. We know we are a bit weaker on this type of layout, certainly when compared to Monaco. Throughout all three practice sessions, we worked very hard to try and put the car in a better place. In fact, the gap to Pole, three and a half tenths, is probably the smallest we have seen so far this season on this type of track."

Makies continued: ''We have yet to fully solve our limitations but we can say that all the hard work from everyone at the factory and at the race track is slowly but surely paying off. The dominant factor in the race will be the extreme heat leading to multiple pit stops, so there will be many cars in the fight for the podium positions and we will push hard to try and join the battle."