Red Bull secured its first double podium in almost two‑and‑a‑half years at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen and teammate Isack Hadjar finishing second and third after a late‑race engine overhaul.
Engine woes pushed Max Verstappen to the back, then to the front
During Q3 the Red Bull–Ford internal combustion unit stranded Verstappen on the eighth grid spot, a performance hit that forced the team to swap engines before the start of race day. The replacement proved effective, allowing the Dutchman to renegotiate position and, together with Hadjar, climb into the top three.
Bowling‑ball speed on Baku’s high‑gear straights
Racing Bulls, which uses the same power units, topped the speed trap with Liam Lawson hitting 349.4 km h⁻¹. Both Red Bull drivers ranked within the top ten for outright top‑speed, a testament to the unit’s high output.
Laurent Mekies on the fine‑tuned narrow band
Team boss Laurent Mekies said the “fantastic” power unit still operates within a “fairly narrow band” and requires meticulous energy management and deployment. “There’s a lot of work on that front back in Milton Keynes and on track to keep us within that window,” he explained, noting that no major changes appeared over the weekend.
Closing the gap without a big upgrade
Despite no larger upgrade package flowing this season, Mekies highlighted that Red Bull has been narrowing the distance to front‑row leaders. After being more than a tenth behind podium spots at previous circuits—“a tenth and a half from pole in Madrid, two tenths in Monza”—the team has managed to close those gaps through chassis tweaks and power‑unit fine‑tuning.
2026 on the horizon
Verstappen saw Baku as Red Bull’s “best – and potentially last – chance of a first win” in 2026, as Mercedes is slated to launch a major upgrade next weekend in Bahrain. Mekies underscored that the pecking order this year has been driven largely by the timing of such upgrades, and that Red Bull must evaluate how the current package will hold against rivals in future races.
With a powerful power unit and disciplined energy strategy, Red Bull remains poised to convert late‑race fixes into top‑three results while eyeing the next wave of upgrades that could tip the balance toward a 2026 victory.
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