In just his fourth race weekend as Red Bull F1 Team Principal, Laurent Mekies celebrated his first victory as Max Verstappen won the Italian GP at Monza on Sunday afternoon.
Although he lost the lead in the early stages, the four-time World Champion quickly reclaimed it and drove away from Norris and the rest of the field to take a fine victory.
Laurent Mekies admits he expected Red Bull and Max Verstappen to be on the defensive in the F1 Italian GP
There is no question McLaren have the best car in Formula 1 this year. As Verstappen found out in Miami and Silverstone when he started on pole, there has been plenty of races where the low tyre deg and race pace of the Woking-based has destroyed the opposition.
Heading into the race, Mekies conceded Red Bull thought they would be defending throughout the F1 Italian GP.
“No, we didn’t expect that [margin of victory].
“So it was good to be fundamentally less than a tenth ahead of McLaren in quali. That’s what yesterday’s picture was.
“And all our numbers were telling us that normally in the race they have a bigger advantage than what they have in qualifying. So we were expecting a defence race and trying to work out scenarios on how to defend against these guys.”
Red Bull and Verstappen ultimately too strong
The medium tyre proved to be incredibly durable, and combined with McLaren’s draggy car on the straights, Max Verstappen could pull a 6s gap to Lando Norris before his tyres slowly started to go from lap 30 onwards. Nonetheless, the damage had been done at that stage.
Once the Dutch driver fitted the hards, his pace was unbelievably strong again as McLaren hung out for a Safety Car and to put on soft tyres.
“And ultimately, we had a pace advantage today,” Mekies added.
“Certainly, Max has done an amazing job. And it’s a good sign.
“Again, same as in the very first questions, after all the hard work put into the race pace, every weekend you get a difficult result on the race pace compared to your qualifying pace. It’s a lot of hard work from everyone in the factory.
“And today, it seemed like we had an advantage compared to them, which is great.”
Laurent Mekies on Max Verstappen giving Lando Norris the place back in the early stages of the F1 Italian GP
Off the line, Lando Norris got a better launch than Max Verstappen, claiming the inside into turn 1. The Dutchman took to the run-off. Unlike in Saudi Arabia, Red Bull made sure he gave the place back this time after analysing it on the pit wall.
In the end it did not matter too much as the now 66-time race winner repassed Norris quickly and drove off into the distance.
“So I think it’s always a case-by-case basis. And the guys on the pit wall did a very good job at making their own assumption of the situation,” said Mekies.
“And it’s a difficult decision at that moment, as you can imagine, to ask your driver to give the lead back. Especially as at this very moment, you have no idea if you are going to have a pace advantage or not. So it may as well be your win getting away from you.
“But nonetheless, it was felt that we should be giving the position back, not to risk a penalty. That’s what we have done.
“Max has been unbelievable in being able to attack back Lando and pass him. And as it turned out, he put our mind at ease after a few laps.”
