Mekies rejects Verstappen’s gloomy outlook: ‘Hungary a one-off'

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has pushed back against Max Verstappen’s claim that the reigning champions might not win another Formula 1 race this season, following a difficult Hungarian Grand Prix weekend that saw the Dutch driver limp to a ninth-place finish.

Verstappen’s frustration was plain to see after a weekend plagued by balance issues and poor tyre performance. Red Bull scored just two points in Budapest and finished more than a minute behind race winner Lando Norris, marking one of the team’s weakest showings in recent memory.

But Mekies remains optimistic, insisting Hungary was a “one-off” and vowing to “put up a better fight” against F1’s dominant McLaren squad when the season resumes.

Taking In Harsh Lessons

Mekies acknowledged the disappointing result at the Hungaroring but argued it shouldn’t be interpreted as a sign of a terminal decline for Red Bull.

“It was a tough weekend,” Mekies admitted. “I don’t think what you see this weekend represents where the car is at.”

Verstappen, who described the RB21 as “undriveable” in Friday practice, qualified only eighth and finished one place lower, despite showing aggression early in the race.

The team’s decision to pit twice proved costly, especially against a McLaren outfit that appears increasingly out of reach.

Still, Mekies believes the team’s struggles in Hungary don’t reflect their true performance ceiling.

“We accept the fact that we are probably not very strong on tracks like here, but what we have seen today was outstanding.

“So, if you look, no question McLaren are faster, but look at Spa, Max was able to fight certainly on Saturday and surprise everyone in the Sprint. So, let’s see.”

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Mekies believes there’s still plenty of time to extract more performance from the car.

“The season is still very long,” he continued. “Even if car development is going to heavily slow down or is pretty much going to be minimum from now on, we still have a lot of things we can learn, as this weekend showed.

“And through that, as difficult and as uncomfortable as it is, fundamentally you learn through these sorts of weekends. So better to have them early on.

“We will learn and if we are able to extract a bit more of the car, thanks to weekends like today, then hopefully we can put up a better fight.”

Hungary Was an Outlier

Mekies also echoed Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko’s belief that the issues in Budapest won’t linger into the next rounds.

“I’m also quite confident that it’s a one-off,” Mekies said. “It will not change the fact that we have a narrow window.

“But I think to be dramatically out of it like that, I’m also quite confident that with all the tests we’ve done this weekend, I’m quite confident that it will be a one-off.

“And to Helmut’s point, it is true that it was mainly a slow-speed and a mid-speed matter.

“Therefore, it points towards more tyre usage and the tyre being switched on more than our performance.”

Despite Verstappen’s bleak forecast, Red Bull’s new team boss is taking a more measured view, choosing to see Hungary as a painful but educational misstep rather than the start of a downward spiral.

Time will tell whether that optimism is well placed – or whether Verstappen’s instincts were right all along.

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