Red Bull reveals scale of challenge to beat Mercedes in F1 2026

Red Bull requires “a 360 improvement” in order to have any chance of beating Formula 1 pacesetters Mercedes, according to team principal Laurent Mekies.

Mercedes continued its imperious start to the 2026 F1 season by dominating qualifying for the sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix, with George Russell comfortably heading team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

There was a huge gap to the rest of the field, with the nearest non-Mercedes - the McLaren of world champion Lando Norris - a whopping six tenths off Russell’s pole position time.

It comes after Mercedes secured a one-two at last weekend’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix, having also locked out the front row of the grid in Melbourne qualifying.

Red Bull has acknowledged it has substantial work to do to close the deficit to Mercedes.

“The gap to Ferrari and Mercedes is substantial,” Mekies told media including Crash.net before sprint qualifying on Friday in Shanghai.

“It’s probably half in the straight, half in the corner. There is not one single area that we need to improve. It’s a 360 improvement. It’s not a surprise.

“It’s going to be a development race. It’s going to be a learning race. So, there is not one single area that we pinpoint in terms of gap to competition, but it’s going to be a full effort from all departments.”

Asked if Red Bull is worried about the extent of the advantage Mercedes boasts, Mekies replied: “I’m not sure if worried is the right word.

“It’s large, no question. It didn’t really come as a surprise. Somehow, we were expecting them to be very, very strong as the pre-season test built up, even though it was not immediately visible at the test.

“So, not a surprise that it’s large. On the other hand, we expect the season to be very long. We expect the development rate to be much higher than what we have seen in the past.

"Of course, it’s always going to be difficult to get a second back, because obviously they will improve as well, but nobody is giving up here and that is the fight we are in.”

Red Bull’s ‘disastrous’ Friday in China

Red Bull endured what Max Verstappen described as being a “disaster” of a Friday at the Chinese Grand Prix.

The four-time world champion could only qualify eighth, a huge 1.7 seconds adrift of Russell, while he was also outpaced by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.

Team-mate Isack Hadjar ended up 10th-fastest after Red Bull only just made it into SQ3 with both its cars after a scare in the second session.

Verstappen was unhappy with the handling and performance of his RB22, complaining that he had “never had anything this bad”.

"The car's undriveable. We never had anything this bad, with everything together,” the Dutchman lamented over team radio.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after sprint qualifying, Verstappen added: "The whole day has been a disaster pace-wise. No grip. Honestly, I think that's the biggest problem. No grip, no balance.

"Just losing massive amounts of time in the corners, to be honest. And then, of course, because of that, you start triggering other little problems. But the big problem for us is just the cornering is completely out."

Red Bull issued an apology to Verstappen for its disappointing performance.