Laurent Mekies has highlighted the Miami Grand Prix as a "significant moment" for Red Bull Ford Powertrains as the partnership makes its North American debut.
The race weekend in the Sunshine State is the first of three US rounds on the 2026 calendar and comes after a five-week hiatus caused by the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian grands prix due to safety concerns amid ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
The team principal acknowledged the significance of the Floridian weekend as Red Bull seeks to address early-season struggles with the RB22 that have left the Milton Keynes outfit with just 16 points from the opening three rounds.
"The Miami Grand Prix is also the first of three races to be held in the USA this season and is therefore a significant moment for us, as Red Bull Ford Powertrains makes its North American debut," Mekies said.
The extended spring break has provided crucial development time for Red Bull, which has been battling reliability issues with its fledgling power unit alongside fundamental chassis problems, including excess weight.
"Everyone at Red Bull is excited to be going racing again after the enforced break," he said. "There is no denying that these past few weeks have proved useful for teams, the FIA and Formula 1: for the teams to further develop these very new cars and for all three parties to work together to fine-tune the regulations based on learnings from the first three grands prix."
Red Bull is expected to bring a substantial upgrade package to Miami, including a new front wing, revised sidepods and an updated rear wing straight-mode mechanism in the ilk of Ferrari's "macarena" approach.
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Mekies caution
Mekies cautioned against expecting an immediate transformation, however, emphasising the scale of work required to solve the team's compounded development challenges.
"Effectively, Miami will be a reboot for the season, after this unexpected and exceptionally long hiatus," he added. "As for ourselves, everyone has been working flat out in Milton Keynes on the Chassis side and PU side, with Max [Verstappen] and Isack [Hadjar] also involved.
"We do not expect to have solved all our issues in one go; however, we certainly aim to give Max and Isack a car they will feel more comfortable to push with."
The team conducted testing at Silverstone during the break to prepare for Miami's single-practice format, which has been extended to 90 minutes, on account of it being a sprint weekend, effectively using a filming day as additional track time.
"Ultimately, only the Miami track will reveal the answer to how good a job we have done and how much we still need to find," the Frenchman said.
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