Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has confirmed Isack Hadjar's power unit issues in first practice for the Mexico City Grand Prix were not altitude-related, but has warned that compromises will have to be made over the remainder of the weekend.
Heading into this weekend, natural concerns were raised as to how the new-for-2026 PUs, with its near 50/50 split between combustion and electrical energy, would operate in the considerably thinner air of Mexico City's Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
Early in FP1, Hadjar encountered what was quickly diagnosed to be a PU problem. Although he later returned to the track, his programme appeared to then be muted as he finished 11th quickest, 1.417s behind pacesetter Charles Leclerc in his Ferrari, and unusually for a team driver, behind reserve Ayumu Iwasa by almost half a second.
Dismissing any concerns, speaking to the media, including RacingNews365, Mekies said: "There have been no unfortunate issues so far related to the altitude.
"In fairness, we did have a PU issue with Isack and lost a bit of track time, but the guys did a very good job and managed to send him back on track. But nothing linked with altitude.
"It's still a long weekend. I hope it's definitely fixed."
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Mekies predicts 'one-off race' with 'compromises'
Due to the conditions, however, Mekies knows that all 11 teams on the grid will have to compensate to various degrees to complete Sunday's race.
The Frenchman feels the field could be given an unusual shake-up depending on which team manages to overcome the conditions the most successfully.
"In many respects, everybody will not be operating at their optimum this weekend," said Mekies. "PU side for the altitude, chassis side for the temperature, and we are all ready to make some compromise to make sure our car can survive, and our PU can survive in these conditions.
"Then, where does that compromise put us in terms of relative competitiveness? It'ss not something we can assess in FP1, but it's something that will become apparent as the other sessions develop.
"I think we all expect that this race could be a one-off in terms of the picking order. We don't really have an idea whether we will have an advantage or a deficit this weekend. Only time will tell.
"But what is sure is that there is a fair amount of lap time, PU side plus chassis side, that is unusually in the game this weekend, so let's see how it pans out."
Also interesting:
Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes, Sam Coop and Nick Golding as they look back on the United States GP and look ahead to Mexico City! Red Bull's return of gearbox gremlins is a lead discussion, as is Kimi Antonelli being just days away from becoming world champion.
Rather watch this episode? Then click here!
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