In his second round since taking the reins as Team Principal, Laurent Mekies faced lots of questions after Red Bull’s disastrous F1 Hungarian GP.
While last week’s Belgium GP had Max Verstappen finish P4, just out of the podium spots, the Hungaroring performance was a complete turnaround. His teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, struggled terribly as well, leaving Hungary with a P17.
The F1 Hungarian GP was not Red Bull Racing’s only bad round of the 2025 season. Before Mekies got promoted to TP, Christian Horner filled that role. However, due to this horrible season and other factors, Horner was fired from his position.
Currently, the team sits in its lowest position in quite some time. Fourth in the Constructors’ championship and with their world champion most likely losing his title, Laurent Mekies and the team needs a miracle to recover as much lost ground as possible.
The issue that ruined the F1 Hungarian GP weekend
Red Bull Racing had one of its worst weekends under the current regulations. The RB21 did not function properly, with a lack of balance affecting the car’s general drivability. Furthermore, everyone on the engineering team tried their best at fixing the problem, yet nothing worked.
According to Laurent Mekies, the F1 Hungarian GP started off horribly, and no amount of changes or settings helped.
“Well, at first, the honest answer is that if we knew, we would probably have fixed it,” fexplained the newly appointed Team Principal in a print media session. “What I can tell you is that it was there from the first lap in FP1. Like, we looked at each other and we said, ‘What’s going on?'”
Moreover, Mekies pointed out how the issues were not balance-related, but the fact the tyres played a big part in it.
“And we could see, you know, in all the slow speed, medium speed, we are just very slow. It was something… We couldn’t say it was balance-related, it didn’t look balance-related. It was just quite a large amount. So we felt, you know, that we couldn’t put the car in the right window. We couldn’t switch on the tyres.”
How the RB21 looked throughout the sessions
With the Pirelli tyres, not getting them in the operating window can cost a driver their whole race. Nevertheless, while newly paved tracks or other aspects can harm the tyres for a free Practice or two, this issue persisted for Red Bull.
Laurent Mekies recognised that the F1 Hungarian GP was different. Unlike other events in 2025, they never turned it around.
“But, you know, sometimes it happens in FP1. But not in that magnitude. It felt wrong from the beginning,” said the Team Principal.
This type of problem is a quick fix most of the time. A couple of different settings or a lowered wing, and the car is back to normal. Yet, this issue was here to stay for Mekies and his team.
“And we tried very many things. The good thing is that the guys really went out and tried with both cars different things. It didn’t do any difference. We couldn’t switch on the tyres. Long run, short run, sometimes it makes you, you know, get by luck or by merit in the right window. But it never quite happened.”
Qualifying was where Red Bull’s problems really showed. With both Verstappen and Tsunoda struggling to set good laps, the Dutchman almost missed out from Q3.
Laurent Mekies went on to highlight how the grip just “did not come back” to them:
“And it was like that in qualifying. Of course, you can always look at your best sample and think that this was actually all right. But the truth is, on average, it never quite came back.”
The gravity of Red Bull’s problems in 2025
As the rumours of Verstappen’s departure from Red Bull took hold of the paddock for a while, the F1 Hungarian GP needed to be outstanding. Meanwhile, the Dutch driver put a stop to the gossip.
Mekies confessed that 2025 has been less than ideal, with such a small tyre temperature window that hurt their overall performance:
“So, you know, I think it’s been a theme this year to say that the window is narrow and sometimes very narrow. I think today was a lot more than that. Today, we were really unable to get the car to work.”
Helmut Marko, Red Bull Racing’s advisor, stated that this problem was a one-off, a tyre specific to Hungary. With the second half of the season coming along in a couple of weeks, Mekies talked about the chance of this repeating itself:
“I’m also quite confident that it’s a one-off. You know, 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 testing we’ve done this weekend, including into the race, it will be a one-off.
“And to Helmut [Marko]’s point, it is true that it was mainly a slow-speed and a mid-speed matter. And therefore, it points towards more tyre usage and the tyre being switched on more than our performance.“
