Laurent Mekies, team boss of Red Bull, continues to refuse to take even partial credit for the recent surge of the Austrian team. Since the Frenchman’s arrival at Red Bull, there has been a clear upward trend in the team’s performance – Max Verstappen has finished on the podium in four consecutive races since the summer break – but according to Mekies, this is due to the team’s own efforts. ‘He’s just too kind,’ Verstappen responds.
Since the summer break, there has been a clear upward trend in the Red Bull team. Max Verstappen has even been able to score more World Championship points since the start of the second half of the season – 86 points – than his closest title rivals Oscar Piastri – 52 points – and Lando Norris – 39 points. Although the Dutchman doubts whether this makes him a serious title contender again, it is clear that Red Bull is on the rise.
This rise is hard to separate from the arrival of Laurent Mekies. The Frenchman took over as Red Bull team boss in July, replacing the sacked Christian Horner. Yet the Frenchman refuses to take any credit. “It’s still zero, guys,” Mekies tells in Singapore when asked how much of the rise is due to him.
“The improvement in performance is due to the work of everyone who tries to analyze the limitations of the car with each race. And that work, again with very strong and clear input from Max Verstappen, is paying off,” the Frenchman also praises his star driver. “That is of course good news. Because as a group, it simply confirms that we have the best people we could wish for. And we continue to work, we do not stop here.”
Mekies is ‘too kind’
According to Verstappen, Mekies is ‘too kind’ in that he does not partly attribute the turnaround at Red Bull to himself. “I think Laurent is probably too nice in that respect,” Verstappen responds in Singapore to his team boss’s comments. “But in the end, it’s good that we just approach it as a real team effort. We have always tried to look at the details. We have tried to understand what our weak points were. And since a few races, things are definitely going a lot better. By asking the right questions, in which Laurent is also involved, it just works well.”
