Mekies Credits Red Bull: Verstappen Praises the Boss’s Impact

Mekies remains humble in the face of Red Bull’s improvement, Verstappen disagrees

Amidst Red Bull’s remarkable resurgence, team principal Laurent Mekies remains firm in his stance of not taking credit for the team’s transformation. This attitude has been commented on by Max Verstappen, who believes Mekies is being “too modest”. Since Mekies took over the leadership in July, Red Bull’s performance has experienced a significant improvement. Verstappen achieved a podium finish at the Dutch Grand Prix after the summer break, followed by consecutive victories in Monza and Baku, and secured second place at the Singapore Grand Prix.

“I keep saying that the credit is zero, guys. I still think it’s zero,” Mekies declared to reporters on Sunday night, when asked if he would reconsider his position on acknowledging his impact. “And I say it with the same seriousness that I told you after Monza.”

Laurent Mekies

Mekies attributes the improvement in performance to the collective effort of the team, focused on analyzing the car’s limitations and optimizing its potential. He highlights the importance of Verstappen’s contributions in this process. The resurgence of Red Bull has led McLaren to consider Verstappen a real threat in the fight for the drivers’ championship. With six races remaining, the current champion is 63 points behind the leader. Verstappen has praised Mekies for his work, highlighting his sensible approach to car setup, thanks to his engineering experience. The driver believes Mekies is too modest in not taking credit.

“I think Laurent is probably too nice in that sense,” Verstappen commented. “But at the end of the day, what is very good is that we approach it as a real team effort. We always try to analyze the details. We try to understand what our weaknesses were. And for a few races now, it has definitely improved a lot.”

Max Verstappen

Verstappen emphasizes the importance of understanding weaknesses and seeking constant improvements, with Mekies playing a key role in this process.