“It has been no secret we have struggled with car balance,” claims Mekies
Although Max Verstappen put in a stellar effort to claim third spot on the grid for Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix, Red Bull team boss Laurent Mekies has conceded that the Austrian-British squad has been “struggled with car balance all weekend.”
Following the opening day at the Dutch Grand Prix, Max Verstappen had predicted that he might struggle to qualify inside the top three.
However, the home favourite bounced back on Saturday, and delivered a sensational performance, setting the quickest sector time in the middle segment of the Zandvoort circuit to secure third place for Sunday’s race.
His team-mate Yuki Tsunoda displayed an improved form on Saturday, but the close marhins meant he only ended up 12th on the grid.
Reflecting on the Milton Keynes-based outfit’s performance, team boss Laurent Mekies noted: "I think P3 was the absolute best Max could have done today, there were a lot of teams competing for P3, Mercedes, Ferrari and probably Fernando in the Aston as well.
"Max did an incredible job to have such a strong Qualifying and so did the Team. It has been no secret we have struggled with car balance all weekend and the Team kept trying things out on both sides of the garage, which ultimately put the car in a better window, so credit to them.
"We unlocked some performance in the car and are extracting just about everything we can from it. Generally, the car has improved from where it was for most of the weekend and with that, we should be able to see performance in the race.
Signing off with a word for his expectations for the Dutch Grand Prix, Mekies said: It will be similar to Quali and a big fight behind the McLarens with four or five cars on very similar pace.
“Yuki has had a weekend where he has again shown progress, he has been at a reasonable gap to Max on a difficult track. He didn’t improve on his second set in Q2 and missed out by just one tenth, so it is still close and he is still building up.
"The pack is going to be very tight tomorrow, and we will see if we have the pace in the race to move through the field. We are looking forward to the race, the level of support the Team get here from the fans is just amazing. It’s not something you get in many other places in the world."
