Laurent Mekies warns of Mexico shake-up as Red Bull targets 2027 wind tunnel switch

Now, here is a wild twist for the weekend: the thin air at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez might completely scramble the competitive order. Red Bull Team Principal Laurent Mekies is predicting a proper one-off shake-up as teams wrestle with the brutal demands of racing more than 2km above sea level.

Speaking in the Friday press conference after FP1, the Frenchman laid out how altitude and cooling limits are forcing everyone into severe compromises. Red Bull did hit a snag during the opening session when Isack Hadjar suffered a power unit issue that cost them valuable track time. Thankfully, the crew managed to get the machine back out, and Mekies was quick to clarify that the trouble had nothing to do with the thin air.

That said, nobody actually knows who stands to gain from the mountain air. With every squad forced to balance raw performance against sheer survival, the usual hierarchy might get tossed out the window. "Both in terms of PU for the altitude and with all the compromises we are all having to make on the cooling side, we expect that this race could be a one-off in terms of pecking order," Mekies explained. "We don’t really have an idea whether we will have an advantage or a deficit this weekend."

Looking further down the road, Mekies also dropped a long-awaited timeline for Red Bull’s brand-new facility being built at the Milton Keynes headquarters. The team's current setup in Bedford has produced extraordinary results over the years, but let's be honest—it is comfortably the oldest wind tunnel on the entire grid. Even four-time World Champion Max Verstappen previously joked that their current gear looks like it comes right out of World War II.

So, when does the new beast finally come online? Mekies confirmed it is expected to start running sometime during 2027, with calibration work dictating the exact quarter. The real benefits won't hit instantly, but the team expects it to unlock massive potential for the latter stages of development on that year's car and right through 2028. It is a stunning leap forward for a technical department that has been squeezing brilliance out of an ancient facility for far too long.