Red Bull Team Principal Laurent Mekies praised Max Verstappen’s performance at the 2025 F1 Las Vegas GP, where the Dutchman claimed his 69th career victory. Starting from 2nd, the four-time World Champion made a superb start and went on to control the race from lights to flag. Speaking in his post-race print media session, Mekies reflected on the Dutchman’s performance and spoke highly of his commanding drive on Sunday.
After taking the lead from Norris at the start, the 69-time race winner had to hold off a charging George Russell in the early laps. Ultimately, the Mercedes driver pushed his tyres too hard too soon in both stints.
“Well, Lap 1, Turn 1 is just never get it wrong. So, that was typical Max, he nailed if got a good start, got Lando. You guys can judge it better than I do, but he just never gets it wrong.
“From that point, in the early phase of the race, actually, George was able to put more pressure than what we would have thought on us. So, George was properly putting pressure on us, in the first five or ten laps. And then he started to, I think, to drop, perhaps with graining or with something else.”
The race was in Verstappen’s hands according to Mekies at F1 Las Vegas GP
He explained that the race came under their control after George Russell slipped out of Verstappen’s DRS range and pitted. Red Bull opted to keep the Dutchman out, and despite the uncertainty, he maintained strong pace. They boxed 7 laps after the Mercedes.
Mekies said: “So, the race started to become a bit more in control at that stage when George was a touch out of our DRS, let’s put it this way. Then there was another critical moment where George pitted, whether or not to cover him. I guess that was a bit tricky at that stage because it was not clear how fast he would go with a fresh set of hard tyres.
“We decided to stay out. Max was able to keep pushing and effectively to match George’s pace. Nonetheless, as you have seen, eight laps later when we pitted, it was still very, very close between the two.”
A Verstappen masterclass at the F1 Las Vegas GP: Mekies
Mekies noted that little separated Verstappen and Russell, but Red Bull felt more confident once he’d switched to the hard tyre after seeing how well the mediums held up. He added that the Dutchman likely had even more pace in hand, noting how he’d increased his speed whenever needed.
“So, there was little to separate them. Then on the hard again, I think we had more confidence on the hard because we saw the set of medium. We saw that the tyres were in good conditions when we took them off the car and Max could push more.
“I think he had probably even more pace than what we have seen in the car. There were a couple of times in the second stint where we have asked him to increase the pace when Lando was pushing. Every time it was necessary, he has increased the pace.
“So, I think all together it was a masterclass from him, no question,” said Mekies.
“On a race weekend where nobody had the proper preparations because the practice sessions were all disturbed by something or something else. To be that strong on Sunday, tyre degradation, executions, race pace.”
However, once again, Mekies praised Verstappen for executing yet another flawless performance and credited the team both at track and Milton Keynes.
Mekies added: “I think it’s a big well done to Max for nailing it again and to everyone back in Milton Keynes and the racetracks. Because today there was a lot more than a normal race. It was really this number of factors that we knew were going to be new for the race day.”
Mekies on Red Bull’s pace advantage during the race
In a weekend full of unknowns, Mekies admitted that the team couldn’t clearly assess how much of a pace advantage Red Bull actually had over their rivals. Mekies explained: “It’s true that we were reasonably happy with the car in FP1. But then after, we were not able to have any proper feedback in FP2 because of the conditions. In FP3 qualifying we were wet, so we were very unsure about where we were going to stand.
“But for sure, all together it’s clear that Max and the car were in the sweet spot today. It’s fair to say you’re right, I think we were not very confident after qualifying. As we said in FP1 we were quite happy with the car.”
He’d admitted that the interruptions in FP2 and the wet sessions left the team unsure of where they stood. With such limited reference points, he said there was no real sign they’d hold any pace advantage heading into the race.
“In FP2 we were not feeling great, but again difficult to compare ourselves. And then in the wet, the rhythm was very good on extreme wet. But in the inters we struggled a little bit more. So it was difficult to extrapolate what was going to be for the dry pace. But for sure there was no indication that we would have a pace advantage up until today.”
