Mekies apologises to Max Verstappen after rear wing failure ended Silverstone podium bid

Red Bull Team Principal Laurent Mekies has apologised to Max Verstappen after a rear wing failure ended the Dutchman's British Grand Prix, admitting the team is treating the reliability issue with the utmost seriousness.

Verstappen appeared on course for another podium finish at Silverstone despite a difficult weekend for Red Bull. After losing ground to teammate Isack Hadjar in the early stages, Verstappen soon recovered and showed considerably stronger race pace.

Although he reported downshift issues over team radio, he remained firmly in contention for a podium, battling George Russell and Lewis Hamilton as the race unfolded.

Russell's progress was interrupted by a slow puncture that forced an additional pit stop, while Hamilton's challenge was compromised by a five-second penalty for moving before the start signal. Those developments left Verstappen in a strong position to finish third.

Instead, disaster struck in the closing stages when his rear wing failed to close properly. The resulting loss of performance caused Verstappen to spin into the gravel, ending his race just when a podium appeared within reach.

Speaking after the race, Mekies immediately apologised to the reigning world champion.

"First and foremost we must start by apologising to Max," he said. "An issue with the rear wing on his car developed in the closing stages of the race which ultimately sent him off track."

The Red Bull boss admitted the team is deeply concerned because similar failures have occurred before.

"It's not the first time an incident of this kind has happened, we are taking it extremely seriously and will put in place everything necessary to make sure it does not happen again."

Despite the disappointment, Mekies was relieved that the incident had no physical consequences for Verstappen: "What matters tonight is that Max is okay."

Up until the reliability failure, Mekies believed Verstappen had extracted everything possible from a car that had struggled for balance throughout the weekend.

"Looking at the race up to that point, our pace was better than at any time this weekend, with Max and the Team executing a strong race which put us in a solid third place, before the incident happened."

He also pointed out that the performance would have been especially encouraging given Red Bull's limitations at Silverstone.

"That would have put us in front of one Mercedes and both McLarens on a weekend where we had some pretty serious balance and performance limitations."

On the other side of the garage, Isack Hadjar completed a consistent weekend by bringing home fifth place. The French rookie initially found himself battling Verstappen before eventually settling into his own race.

Although he lacked the outright pace that Verstappen demonstrated later in the Grand Prix, he comfortably secured valuable points for the team. Mekies praised Hadjar's performance, even if the driver himself had hoped for more.

"Isack had a solid weekend, a very good qualifying yesterday and then a strong race today. He wanted more, but we'll take that P5," noted the Frenchman.

The Silverstone weekend marked a significant contrast to Red Bull's competitiveness in Austria just one week earlier, where the team had been capable of fighting for victory.

"There is certainly a lot we need to look at, as things looked a lot more difficult than one week ago in Austria, where we could fight for the win."

Despite the frustrating outcome, Mekies remains confident Red Bull can respond quickly before the next round.

"I have full trust that as a Team we will react in a very strong way and tackle both the reliability and performance aspects that prevented from extracting everything out of our package this weekend."