Red Bull disclose mood in camp: 'Don't expect us to be happy'

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has said the six-time F1 constructors' champions will not be "happy" until the RB22 is fighting for grand prix victories.

The Milton Keynes-based squad is facing the prospect of a first winless season since 2015, with Max Verstappen also having triumphed in every campaign since his rookie year at Toro Rosso.

With the Dutchman now locked in to the team until at least 2030, which will see his tenure at Red Bull become the longest in F1 history, the energy drinks-backed outfit is building to the future — with the aim of more titles on the horizon.

Mekies has underlined the shared motivation between him and Verstappen, which is what drives the pair to keep going in pursuit of a return to the summit of F1, but he insists the mood at Red Bull will not be where he wants it to be until its car is capable of victories on merit.

"The mood will not be high until we are back to winning," he told F1.com. "Don't expect us to be happy with the progress we have made, because it has not been enough yet to win races.

"From a bit more than one second off the pace at the beginning of the year, we are probably now in the last three-tenths [to the front].

"The competition is not waiting for us; everybody is developing very, very hard, so already the fact that we managed to close the gap to that extent is a big credit to everyone back at Milton Keynes."

With rivals not standing still, returning to the top step of the podium will be far from straightforward, despite the progress that has been made with the RB22

However, it remains the target for Mekies and his team, and he feels Verstappen and Isack Hadjar are well positioned to pounce on any opportunities that might fall their way.

"We absolutely still want to try and win races this year," the 49-year-old added. "Do we think we have enough pace in the car right now to win in a fair fight? No.

"But the field is tight enough for any of the four teams to be in a winning position as soon as one of us does not extract everything out of the weekend, or makes the slightest mistake."