IS THE RB21 FIXED? THE SECRET SETUP MAX VERSTAPPEN USED TO STUN MCLAREN
Discover how Laurent Mekies empowered Max Verstappen to fix the RB21. Read the full story on Red Bull’s post-Horner transformation.
Let's check out how Laurent Mekies got Max Verstappen involved in fixing Red Bull after Christian Horner got the boot.
Let's rewind to early 2025. Max Verstappen is still the champ, and things at Red Bull look pretty chill from the outside.
The Horner/Marko drama has died down, and everyone's focused on one thing: winning a fifth title in a row.
But during winter testing, it's clear it won't be a cakewalk. Verstappen's new car, the RB21, still has the same problems as the 2024 model, and McLaren has built a seriously good car.
Verstappen wins in Japan and Imola, but by summertime, the title is slipping away. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are just too fast.
One problem is that Red Bull's old wind tunnel doesn't match what's happening on the track.
Verstappen and his engineers are tweaking the car all weekend, when they should be fast right from the first practice.
Verstappen can still pull off amazing qualifying laps with a crazy setup, but he's not always a factor in the races. Red Bull is having a hard time finding that perfect balance that McLaren seems to nail.
Verstappen's Important Role
So, Red Bull shakes things up, fires Christian Horner, and brings in Laurent Mekies. Horner takes the blame for the team's so-so results, and Mekies wastes no time switching things up.
It's soon obvious that Mekies wants to focus on driver feedback, not just rely on the simulator and wind tunnel.
Mekies put Verstappen in a key role ASAP. At Monza, Red Bull gave the car a floor upgrade, and even though technical director Pierre Wache had some doubts, Verstappen got to run a really aggressive setup.
It worked! He scored a big win and started a huge comeback, only missing the title by two points to Norris.
More than that, Verstappen got more say in the team. Mekies saw that some things weren't working and used 2025 to fix them.
Because Red Bull is running better with this new approach, they're in better shape for the 2026 rule changes.
Red Bull still needs to build a fast car, but now they know how to get the most out of it. Verstappen's feedback—and Isack Hadjar's—will be super important for building a good base and making quick setup changes when needed.
Even with the changes, it wasn't always easy in the second half of 2025, but Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda were more willing to push the car hard in practice.
This lets the team make changes faster and see results. That's how Red Bull transformed things, and it should pay off in 2026, with Verstappen playing a big part.
LANDO NORRIS SINGLE: F1 CHAMPION CONFIRMS SPLIT FROM MAGUI CORCEIRO IN LEAKED VIDEO
F1 heartbreak: Analyse Lando Norris's split from Magui Corceiro, the "single man" leak, and their on-off relationship history.
Looks like Formula One world champion Lando Norris and his supermodel girlfriend, Magui Corceiro, have split up. The two started dating in 2023 and had a pretty on-and-off thing. She was right there with him when he won the title in Abu Dhabi – definitely an emotional night for both of them.
But now, it seems like it’s over. According to the Sun, a TikTok video caught Norris telling Carlos Sainz Jr that he’s “a single man". The audio’s not great, but you can hear Sainz asking if he and Magui are okay, and Lando just says, “No,” then adds that he’s single. This happened during pre-season testing in Bahrain while the drivers were getting their photos taken.
Magui, who’s also an actress from Portugal, used to date footballer Joao Felix before Lando. She and Norris broke up in 2024 and got back together, but it looks like they’ve called it quits again. People close to them say there’ve been signs for a while; things changed after Lando’s big championship win. The most obvious clue? Magui wasn’t at Lando’s big thank-you party in Bahrain, even though everyone else was there. Naturally, that got people talking.
Back in December, Magui broke down in tears after Norris won the world championship. She gave an interview to TV Guia, saying how happy they both were and how, in that moment, she forgot about the cameras. It all seemed pretty solid then.
Magui’s got a huge social following – around 800,000 fans on TikTok – and she’s done everything from acting in Portuguese dramas to modelling for brands like Intimissimi and Alo Yoga. She was even on Portugal’s Dancing with the Stars in 2020 and co-founded the eco swimwear brand Missus. She’s graced Vogue Portugal, too.
Norris himself talked about Magui in Vogue, saying they met a few years ago but only got together more recently. He called her “down to earth” and said he can just be himself around her. Apparently, he kept trying to get her into golf, but she hated it.
Neither of them has officially announced the breakup, but at this point, it looks like they’ve gone their separate ways.
DISASTER WARNING: OSCAR PIASTRI FEARS 2026 RACE STARTS COULD LEAD TO MULTI-CAR GRID ACCIDENTS
Oscar Piastri warns of chaos at the 2026 start! Discover why the new rules are a "recipe for disaster" and how McLaren found "warp speed."
Oscar Piastri thinks there’s a lot of luck involved in getting a good start these days. Pre-season testing in Bahrain really made it clear that these new 2026 F1 rules have turned race starts into a much bigger headache.
He’s spoken up about this before, especially since so many teams and drivers are running into fresh problems under the new regs. The big one? F1 dropped the MGU-H from the engine formula, and suddenly, starts just aren’t as smooth. It’s a mess.
After last week’s first official test in Bahrain, Piastri didn’t sugarcoat it. He called the 2026 start a “recipe for disaster” because of how wildly different every driver’s launch is. Even the FIA and F1 noticed, so they decided to test out a longer starting procedure during the second test.
Here’s what they did: during the second test, they delayed the starting lights, giving drivers more time to spool up their turbos. Ferrari’s 2026 engine features a smaller turbo, allowing its drivers to maintain lower revs for longer periods. Others? They’re sitting there for up to ten seconds, just waiting.
Piastri says the new procedures and the extra week of testing in Bahrain helped a bit; things aren’t quite as all over the place now. But he’s honest: there’s still a ton of luck involved if you want to get a clean launch and avoid turbo lag or wheelspin.
Holding high revs to prime the turbo, now that the MGU-H is gone, is just one of the traps drivers can fall into. Piastri figures it’s going to take a while before all 22 drivers on the grid are nailing their starts every time.
He summed it up at the press conference in Bahrain: “Mine yesterday wasn’t so bad. I was last, but I also overtook four cars. There’s still a lot of luck involved, and we’re learning what makes a good start and what makes a bad one.
“There are a few pitfalls you can run into that cause problems. Managing the energy and the whole procedure – that’s one thing.
“The way we start is just totally different from last year. It’s trickier across the board. Some drivers are handling it; some just aren’t.”
On the other hand, McLaren looked like they were getting the hang of it by the last day of testing. Jolyon Palmer, watching from the sidelines, was impressed by Piastri’s practice start but even more blown away by Lando Norris.
Palmer thought McLaren had cracked the code. On Friday, Piastri shot off the line in the morning, but Norris outdid everyone in the final session. Palmer joked that Norris hit “warp speed".
He said on the F1 broadcast, “Warp speed, see you mate! That’s a brilliant start from Lando. McLaren is there. I’ve seen it all day. Oscar got a great start. In the pit lane, it looks good.
“I’d love to see that next to the Ferrari, honestly, because it’s really impressive. Their start is much better than Red Bull’s. I’d say it’s even better than Mercedes.”