Though Red Bull Racing had an incredibly successful US GP, Team Principal Laurent Mekies reflected following the race on the challenges faced throughout the weekend.
Max Verstappen triumphed, winning both the sprint on Saturday and race on Sunday. Second driver Yuki Tsunoda finished both races in P7, an improvement on his previous performances this year despite still being off his teammate’s pace.
Though a positive weekend for the team overall, Mekies shared the hard work and tough decisions that made the difference.
Tsunoda’s improved performance necessary for the team
Red Bull Racing currently sit fourth in the Constructors’ Championship, only three points away from Ferrari after the US GP. Though McLaren have already been crowned the 2025 champions, Mekies’ focus remains on beating his rival teams.
While Tsunoda’s role within the team has been called into question, Mekies spoke about the importance his role.
“I think there is a role. A, because there is still a Constructors’ Championship discussion. Obviously not for the win, but for other aspects. So we need a Yuki’s points. And B, the faster Yuki is, the more we can split the tests across the cars. We told you a couple of times this weekend, we test this with that car, we test this with the other car. So it’s important for us to have a very fast Yuki.”
Despite speculation of Tsunoda’s Red Bull departure, Mekies shared his hopes that Tsunoda will be competing alongside Verstappen at the front of the field. He also shared how the team would benefit from this.
“In terms of sporting situations and battling and strategy, it is also possible that with Yuki picking up, we can at some stage be in a position where we battle two against two.”
How have Red Bull found performance?
Mekies and Red Bull celebrated an absolutely dominant performance at the US GP. Verstappen’s race was unmatched, allowing him to achieve two pole positions and two wins. Though pleased with the improved performance of the RB21, the Team Principal could not point out one singular factor for this.
“I will certainly not be able to pinpoint one single element such as one upgrade or one set of items. I think it will be largely minimising the amazing analysis job that has been done to try to identify where were the untapped areas of the performance window of the car and the effort to put the car in these areas and to see if it was going to perform. It’s not a combination of one factor, it’s a combination of many, many factors.”
He pointed to the upgraded floor that the team debuted in Monza as significant. Though Mekies could not identify this as the sole reason for the team’s improved pace.
“We don’t have a big incentive to explain to anyone what it is, but it’s a combination of all that. Of course, every hundredth counts and the Monza floor helped and every single small detail on the car helps, whether it is mechanically or aerodynamically. This together with that extensive exploration of where to run the car has helped us in the performance.”
Improved RB21 still has handling issues
The Red Bull Team Principal also shared that the performance may also appear elevated as both McLaren drivers crashed out of the Sprint Race.
“After the sprint, obviously we got lucky in the sprint with McLaren crashing at turn one. So we didn’t have that reference against them.We’ve seen George putting a large amount of pressure on us, especially in the early part of the sprint. Max not being completely comfortable with the rear of the car quite early in the sprint…”
“If you look at the pace, I think McLaren is probably very, very close to us in terms of race pace today. If you consider where they have finished and as you say, the battle Lando had with Charles, you would probably have finished very, very close to us. It’s what we were saying earlier, you have three or four teams very, very close. Whoever is nailing it, either in quality or in the races, he’s taking it home.”
Mekies celebrated the dominant performance at the US GP, though it was not a weekend that was entirely smooth sailing. Throughout the weekend, Verstappen was seen to struggle with the unpredictable rear of his car. Reflecting on the weekend overall, Mekies praised the team’s adaptability and the positive steps made to improve the car
“So again, another very good example, risk taking and how this team goes racing. With the support of everyone at the factory, we had the choice between not doing anything or trying to address it. Again, a lot of analysis, many difficult discussions, but ultimately a big learning in making some changes, going into quali. It seems we unlocked more performance out of it and certainly today the situation was different compared to the sprint.”
