Mekies after first two days of Barcelona shakedown: 'Step by step'

Published on 29 January 2026 by Niels Hendrix

Oracle Red Bull Racing’s 2026 car debuted on Monday during the Barcelona shakedown. Isack Hadjar got behind the wheel of the RB22 on the first day. On Tuesday morning, Max continued the testing program, starting in the dry but driving mostly on a wet track. Hadjar then got behind the wheel again in the afternoon, but unfortunately ended in the barriers in damp conditions before the day had ended.

Team principal and CEO Laurent Mekies shared his thoughts: “We knew it would be a very special moment to be here for the first time with the RB22 with our own power unit, so it came with that special atmosphere and tensions. The last few months and weeks have been incredibly hectic to be ready, but ultimately we were ready on Monday morning to run. I can only take the opportunity to say a big thank you and well done to everybody back in Milton Keynes, chassis-side, power unit-side, because it was incredible to see the car going out at a few minutes past nine on Monday morning with our own power unit.”

Reflecting on Monday, Mekies added: “We knew we have to do our homework and we have to do it step by step. Nonetheless, we got quite a few laps on Monday with Isack, which was a positive day, starting to learn the power unit, starting to learn the car.”

Mekies continued about Tuesday: “The weather was a bit more difficult on Tuesday, and Max drove in the morning. We only got one run of dry running before the rain came. It’s part of the game, we felt anyway that it was interesting to run in the rain also with these regulations. Obviously everything is new, and we knew we would have a lot of work to do. That’s what we’ve done, and then switching to Isack in the afternoon, again no chance for dry tyres but some good learning on the wet and in the right way. But what is important is that Isack is okay, and we will try our best to repair the car and to see what’s coming next.”

With all Formula 1 teams permitted to run on three days across the five available to them in Barcelona, Red Bull Racing will use its last day on Friday, with Max driving the full day.