Red Bull Team Principal Laurent Mekies has detailed the thinking behind Max Verstappen’s aggressive start on the soft compound tyre at the 2025 Singapore Grand Prix.
It was a gamble he described as a “choice of aggressiveness” necessary to challenge for victory. While the strategy ultimately left Verstappen defending for much of the race to secure a second-place finish, Mekies believes the team’s overall performance on a high-downforce circuit is a significant positive.
Aggressive tyre strategy explained
Starting on the soft tyre was a strategic outlier, with Mekies confirming the goal was to gain an advantage on George Russell at the start. The team felt it was the only way to have a real chance at the lead.
Mekies explained Red Bulls’ rationale at the Singapore Grand Prix: “We did that to try to, obviously, maximise our chance to get George at the start. It didn’t happen. And I think that very quickly has exposed us to have more deg, to have basically a more difficult car to deal with.”
This early gamble forced Verstappen into an earlier pit stop and a defensive race. Mekies noted the consequences of this decision, stating, “what it meant is that most of the race, Max had been defending with older tyres and his competition.”
Despite the added pressure, Mekies praised his driver’s performance. “The good news is that he did a great job at managing to bring the car back in second despite the pressure from Lando,” he said, while also acknowledging that there are still small performance issues to resolve.
A significant result on a high-downforce track
For Red Bull, being competitive at a circuit like Marina Bay was crucial, especially following races at lower-downforce tracks like Monza and Baku. Mekies expressed satisfaction that the team was able to fight for the win in Singapore Grand Prix.
“For sure, for us, being able to fight for the win here, it means a lot,” Mekies stated. “It means that what we have unlocked is not only load-on-force specific. We will not change our approach. We’ll continue to take it race by race.”
Looking ahead, Mekies identified McLaren as a key threat, particularly at upcoming circuits like Austin and Mexico, which feature the medium-speed corners where McLaren excelled in Singapore.
Tsunoda’s “poor Saturday” cost points
While Verstappen fought for the win, his teammate Yuki Tsunoda endured a much more difficult weekend. Mekies was candid about Tsunoda’s performance, pinpointing a poor qualifying session as the primary issue.
“It was not a good Saturday for Yuki,” Mekies admitted. “Then Saturday was poor. We need to work with him to understand what derailed it.”
Despite what Mekies called a “shocking” first lap, he noted that Tsunoda’s recovery drive from P18 to the edge of the points was a positive. “From that point onwards, I think he has done a very decent race. He came back from, I think, P18 to P12 or P11 with a very decent pace… We had a very poor Saturday. It’s costing us so we can and a few points and we’ll work with him to improve together.”
