Mekies is aware that "the next three to five tenths are always the hardest ones to find”

Red Bull left the Canadian Grand Prix with a renewed sense of momentum after Max Verstappen secured the team’s first podium of the season and Isack Hadjar delivered a determined drive to fifth place despite a messy and penalty‑affected race.

Team Principal Laurent Mekies praised the team’s progress and highlighted the significance of achieving their first podium with the new Red Bull Ford Powertrains unit.

Verstappen produced one of his strongest performances of the year, chasing down and overtaking Lewis Hamilton on merit before later losing the position again to the Ferrari.

Even as his tyre temperatures dropped in the closing laps, he remained within half a second of Hamilton at the finish. His third‑place result marked a major milestone for Red Bull as they continue to recover form after a challenging start to the season.

Hadjar, meanwhile, endured a more complicated afternoon. He picked up two penalties — one for moving under braking in a battle with Charles Leclerc, and another for a yellow‑flag infringement.

Despite losing around 30 seconds of race time, he still managed to hold onto fifth place, underlining both his pace and his resilience.

After the race, Mekies emphasised the importance of the team’s first podium with their own power unit. He said:

“Firstly, congratulations to everyone at Red Bull Ford Powertrains. To claim our very first podium with our own PU, in only its fifth race, is truly a historic moment, especially when you consider the pedigree and experience of our competitors. A PU on its own is not enough and of course this result is also down to the hard work of everyone back on campus in Milton Keynes and here at the track.”

He noted that the team is steadily closing the gap to the front: “Overall, maybe we have closed the gap a little bit more to those ahead of us and this confirms we are moving in the right direction, but we are well aware that the next three to five tenths that we need to find are always the hardest ones.”

Mekies highlighted Verstappen’s consistency and racecraft: “Max was as strong as always, very fast and very consistent, knowing the right time to apply pressure.”

He also praised Hadjar’s performance despite the penalties: “Isack was on the pace and got into the right rhythm from the start of the weekend and he delivered an impressive performance, also having to deal with a couple of penalties. It was important for the championship to have both cars scoring good points.”

Mekies made it clear that Red Bull is far from finished in its development push: “We still have a lot to learn about how to extract everything out of the package we have, while at the same time, everyone in Milton Keynes is working flat out to bring our next development to the fight at the race track.”