which targeted a post-Mexico Grand Prix decision<\/a>, has been pushed back.<\/p>\n\u201cWe postponed our decision until the end of the season, because first we want to focus on the championship fight,\u201d Marko told Autosport.<\/p>\n
Asked whether an announcement would only come after the final race, he added: \u201cNo, but it will be around Abu Dhabi. We will just focus on the championship first.\u201d<\/p>\n
The call means both Red Bull Racing and its sister team Racing Bulls remain in limbo over their 2026 driver pairings.<\/p>\n
Verstappen\u2019s team-mate for next season has yet to be confirmed, though Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar remains the leading contender for promotion.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Racing Bulls\u2019 line-up could again feature Yuki Tsunoda or Liam Lawson, with rookie Arvid Lindblad also under consideration.<\/p>\n
Red Bull Racing team principal Laurent Mekies said the organisation had simply chosen to give itself more time before committing to any changes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to take a bit more time before we make a decision on the drivers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYuki is making steps forward, and the other kids are making steps forward as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have no reason to rush the decision, so we will take a bit more time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mekies also confirmed that the revised timeline still means a verdict will come before the Abu Dhabi finale, but emphasised that there is \u201cno reason to pressure the decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both teams are still fighting for positions in the constructors\u2019 standings, and Red Bull believes premature announcements could disrupt its focus.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s exactly as you say,\u201d Mekies told The Race when asked if avoiding distractions during the title run-in was a factor.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want the distraction now. What is at stake is exactly what you describe. The parameters are exactly this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tsunoda\u2019s form in recent races has contributed to the delay, with Red Bull keen to properly evaluate his progress.<\/p>\n
Mekies praised the Japanese driver\u2019s performance in Mexico, where a slow pitstop cost him potential points after running close to Verstappen\u2019s pace.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was very, very close in quali to Max,\u201d Mekies said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the first stint was very, very strong as well, two tenths or three tenths from Max on the same very long first stint on the medium (compound tyre). After that, I think it\u2019s on our side.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hadjar remains in pole position for promotion to Red Bull, while Lindblad\u2019s FP1 outing in Mexico also impressed team management.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe did a very good job,\u201d Mekies said of the 18-year-old.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was very calm and gave all the right feedback. He didn\u2019t put a foot wrong, and he didn\u2019t break the car! So, honestly, he has impressed us on that FP1.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Red Bull have delayed their 2026 driver announcement until at least Abu Dhabi. Image: XPB Images Team advisor…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":245357,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,9107,918,6490,85],"class_list":["post-245356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-racing-bulls","tag-red-bull","tag-slot3","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245356\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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