Mekies admits Red Bull made a mistake with high-downforce setup for the Spa race
Red Bull's new team boss Laurent Mekies has admitted that the Milton Keynes-based outfit made a mistake when calling in Yuki Tsunoda for his pit stop, informing the Japanese driver too late.
Red Bull had opted for a skinny rear wing for the Sprint, and it proved a masterstroke. With better straight line speed than McLaren, Verstappen was able to overtake Oscar Piastri on the opening lap. From there, the Dutchman drove perfectly to keep the arguably faster McLarens at bay as he took the Sprint win.
However, the Dutch driver was left to rue his laps in the standard qualifying session after he was unable to split the McLaren, and got beaten by the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc as well.
With heavy rain forecast for the race, Red Bull elected to run Verstappen’s car with more downforce. However, it didn’t pay off as the majority of the grand prix was run in dry conditions.
Although Verstappen looked very competitive in the damp conditions in the opening stages of the race, he was unable to overtake Leclerc, finishing down in fourth spot.
His team-mate Yuki Tsunoda endured a difficult race on Sunday. The Japanese driver delivered his best qualifying performance at Red Bull on Saturday, but he spent the majority of race in traffic, and could not capitalize on a potential early switch from intermediates to slick tyres.
Commenting on Red Bull's up-and-down weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, new team boss Laurent Mekies said: "The fact that we got so little wet running today did not help us as a Team. We added more downforce prior to Qualifying, in the expectation of a wet race but we didn’t get much racing in it and for sure, that influenced our race. It is part of the game.
"In the dry there it was always going to be very difficult for Max to overtake and he spent every single lap in Charles’ gearbox but ultimately became unlikely we would pass the Ferrari in these conditions.
"For Yuki it was our mistake, we wanted to pit him on the same lap as Max and everything was ready, the crew were out and prepared for a double stop, but we called him too late and it is on us.
"One lap made a big difference today when it came to switching to the slick and he lost position, which ultimately stopped his fight for the points.
Speaking of Red Bull's upgrades that made their debut at Spa-Francorchamps, Mekies said: "A positive is that the Team is happy with the upgrade package, there is no question as to whether we brought performance to the car, we absolutely feel we did. Does it fix all the limitations in the car? No but it is a step forwards.
"After two weeks at the factory, trying to meet as many people as possible it was nice to be with, and be integrated into the Race Team and enter the race dynamic.
"It was great to see the flow and processes trackside, as you would imagine it is a Team where everything is done at the highest level and I have met a very tight, strong group.
"Now, we look forward to seeing what we can deliver in a few days’ time in Budapest, at a track with very different characteristics to this one."
