Ferrari have emerged as the benchmark at the 2026 Mexico City Grand Prix, according to Red Bull technical director Pierre Waché, who believes the Scuderia’s advantage in slow corners makes the SF-26 particularly competitive at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. However, the French engineer is confident that Red Bull are not far behind and hopes Max Verstappen can challenge the Italian team once the RB22’s balance problems have been addressed.
Red Bull’s opening day of practice raised more questions than answers. Max Verstappen missed FP1 after handing his car over to Ayumu Iwasa, while contact with Liam Lawson during the second session damaged an aerodynamic component of the RB22’s floor. The resulting loss of downforce affected the car’s behaviour and complicated Red Bull’s efforts to assess its genuine performance.
Despite those difficulties, the four-time world champion demonstrated encouraging competitiveness, even with a car that was not operating at its best. Nevertheless, Max Verstappen admitted he was not entirely satisfied with the RB22’s handling, an assessment shared by Pierre Waché, who identified the inconsistent balance between the front and rear of the car as the main limitation encountered on Friday.
Max Verstappen struggles with Red Bull balance at Mexico GP
“It wasn’t bad, but there are still several things I would like to improve,” Max Verstappen explained. “In reality, I only had one session available. I don’t think anyone is particularly happy with the grip levels. If you look at the onboard footage from the other cars, you can see that nobody is having much fun driving. We still need to find a little more performance to take a step forward.”
Some of the difficulties described by the Dutch driver were shared across the grid. Mexico City’s altitude of approximately 2,250 metres dramatically reduces air density, limiting the aerodynamic downforce generated by Formula 1 cars even when they run maximum-downforce configurations.
The challenge is particularly significant with the 2026 generation of cars, which already produce less downforce than their predecessors under normal conditions. At the Mexican circuit, the thinner air makes maintaining grip through the corners even more difficult, increasing the importance of a predictable and well-balanced car.
“You slide around even more, and you have to be very patient with your driving,” Max Verstappen added. “Personally, it’s not the most enjoyable situation, but it’s a different challenge from the others. We need to try to understand it better.”
The unusual conditions are also central to Ferrari’s aerodynamic challenge with its upgraded SF-26 floor, as the reduced air density influences how effectively both teams can generate and maintain downforce.
Pierre Waché identifies the main problem with Red Bull’s RB22
Beyond the difficulties caused by the circuit itself, Red Bull identified a more specific problem with the RB22’s handling. Pierre Waché explained that the car was not responding consistently through the different phases of a corner, making it difficult for Max Verstappen to establish a predictable balance.
“At the moment, the balance between the front and rear is a little disconnected,” the Red Bull technical director explained. “We have one behaviour from the front under braking, then the rear comes into play during corner entry, and then the front again at the apex. It’s a situation we need to try to correct for tomorrow.”
The issue concerns the transition between braking, turning into a corner and maintaining the desired trajectory through the apex. Ideally, a driver needs the car to respond progressively and consistently as the load shifts between its axles. When the balance changes unexpectedly between these phases, maintaining confidence and precision becomes more difficult.
At the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, the reduced grip makes that problem particularly demanding. The driver must manage weight transfer carefully while dealing with a car that provides less aerodynamic support than it would at lower altitude.
Red Bull’s overnight work was therefore expected to focus primarily on setup adjustments. However, Pierre Waché stressed that improving the RB22 over a single lap could not come at the expense of its competitiveness over a longer distance.
“I think we can address it through the setup,” he confirmed. “As always, you have to find a balance between single-lap performance and long-run performance. If we try to correct the balance in qualifying configuration, we must make sure we don’t make it worse for the race.”
That compromise represents an important part of Red Bull’s preparations. A change that improves responsiveness during a qualifying simulation may not necessarily deliver the same benefit when the car is carrying more fuel or the tyres have completed several consecutive laps.
Max Verstappen’s damaged floor complicates Red Bull’s Mexico GP analysis
The aerodynamic damage sustained during FP2 made Red Bull’s task more complicated. Contact between Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson damaged an element on the outer section of the RB22’s floor, resulting in a loss of downforce and affecting the team’s ability to evaluate setup changes accurately.
“We lost overall grip,” Pierre Waché explained. “From our analysis, the damage affected the balance at both the front and rear. We cannot know with absolute precision how much of an impact it had, but it clearly influenced the level of grip and the confidence the driver can have in the car. We will see tomorrow, when the floor has been repaired, how much the car’s behaviour improves.”
This distinction is important when assessing Red Bull’s Friday performance. The difficulties reported by Max Verstappen cannot be attributed entirely to the damaged floor, because the technical director also identified an underlying setup problem. Equally, the information collected during the second session cannot be considered fully representative of the RB22’s undamaged performance potential.
Red Bull will therefore need to evaluate the repaired car before determining how much of its deficit can be recovered through restoring aerodynamic performance and how much requires further setup work.
Tyre overheating and falling temperatures complicate Red Bull race simulations
The race simulations also provided Red Bull with only partial information. The damage to Max Verstappen’s car made comparisons with its rivals more difficult, while changing track conditions introduced another important variable.
Pierre Waché highlighted that the asphalt temperature fell by more than ten degrees during FP2, making the long runs less representative of the conditions teams might encounter during Sunday’s race.
“The tyres are clearly overheating in the final sector,” he explained. “But during FP2, the track temperature dropped by more than ten degrees. For that reason, the long runs were not very representative of what we will see in the race. We will need to pay close attention to this because, with higher temperatures, the Medium tyre could be a better choice.”
The assessment is particularly interesting when considering Ferrari’s performance. Charles Leclerc completed the most convincing race simulation on Medium tyres, while several rivals used Softs. The differences between the two compounds appeared relatively small, but thermal management could change the situation on Sunday.
The different compounds and practice programmes make practice and long-run pace comparisons especially relevant when assessing the teams’ performances in Mexico.
Red Bull must therefore consider tyre behaviour when deciding which adjustments to make overnight. Improving the balance of the RB22 without increasing stress on the tyres, particularly through the final sector, will be essential to finding a configuration that works in both qualifying and race conditions.
Ferrari are Mexico GP favourites in slow corners, admits Pierre Waché
The comparison with Ferrari was one of the central themes in the assessments offered by Max Verstappen and Pierre Waché. Both acknowledged the competitiveness of the SF-26, identifying its performance through slow corners as the main strength of the Maranello car.
“They have already been the fastest in several sessions over the last few weekends,” Max Verstappen observed. “This is a circuit where you need even more performance in slow corners, so normally it should be a track that suits them.”
That assessment reflects the encouraging signs Ferrari has shown in Mexico, where Charles Leclerc topped both Friday practice sessions. The Monegasque driver’s performance strengthened the impression that the SF-26 is well suited to the circuit’s slower sections, although the competitive order remains open ahead of qualifying.
Pierre Waché was even more explicit in identifying Ferrari as the technical benchmark for the weekend.
“I think they have clearly been at the top in slow corners since the beginning of the year. They have a lot of downforce in those conditions. We will see what we can extract from our car. I don’t think we are far away, and I hope we can challenge them.”
The Red Bull technical director’s comments suggest that Ferrari’s slow-corner advantage is recognised by one of its closest rivals. However, his confidence also indicates that Red Bull believe there is still performance available from the RB22, particularly once the damaged floor has been repaired and the balance improved.
Ferrari’s strength in this area has also emerged in the technical analysis of its Mexico GP FP1 performance, which highlighted the SF-26’s behaviour through the circuit’s slower sections.
Red Bull power unit shows no unusual problems at Mexico City’s altitude
While the RB22’s aerodynamic balance and floor damage remain areas of concern, Pierre Waché ruled out any particular anomalies in the operation of Red Bull’s power unit.
The engine is facing Mexico City’s extreme altitude conditions for the first time, making the absence of unusual behaviour an encouraging indication for the team. At this circuit, power-unit performance and temperature management are among the most demanding technical challenges of the weekend.
Red Bull can therefore focus its attention on restoring the RB22’s aerodynamic performance and improving its handling rather than dealing with an additional power-unit concern.
The remaining question is how much performance Max Verstappen can recover once the floor is repaired and the setup changes are evaluated. Ferrari currently appear to hold an advantage in the slow corners, but Pierre Waché believes the gap is small enough for Red Bull to mount a challenge.
Saturday’s qualifying session will provide a more meaningful comparison between the two cars, with Red Bull seeking a more consistent RB22 and Ferrari aiming to convert its promising Friday pace into a strong result when it matters most.
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