{"id":43100,"date":"2025-08-04T15:26:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T15:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/43100\/"},"modified":"2025-08-04T15:26:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T15:26:11","slug":"laurent-mekies-explains-whats-surprised-him-about-off-the-chart-max-verstappen-since-taking-the-red-bull-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/43100\/","title":{"rendered":"Laurent Mekies explains what\u2019s \u2018surprised\u2019 him about ‘off-the-chart’ Max Verstappen since taking the Red Bull job"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Laurent Mekies is quickly getting up to learning just how impressive Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen is.<\/p>\n

After years of competing against Max Verstappen<\/a> during his time at Ferrari and Racing Bulls, Laurent Mekies<\/a> has now been tasked with helping the four-time world champion return to the top of the drivers\u2019 championship<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Hungarian Grand Prix<\/a> has shown that Red Bull<\/a> have their work cut out to make that happen.<\/p>\n

RANKDRIVERTEAMTIME1Charles LeclercFerrari1:15.3722Oscar PiastriMcLaren1:15.3983Lando NorrisMcLaren1:15.4134George RussellMercedes1:15.4255Fernando AlonsoAston Martin1:15.4816Lance StrollAston Martin1:15.4987Gabriel BortoletoSauber1:15.7258Max VerstappenRed Bull1:15.7289Liam LawsonRacing Bulls1:15.82110Isack HadjarRacing Bulls1:15.915<\/p>\n

Verstappen was happy just to make it to Q3 on Saturday, and will start the race from eighth, behind Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto.<\/p>\n

David Croft thinks Red Bull made a mistake that impacted Verstappen<\/a>, but it\u2019s hard to believe that the Dutchman will finish P8 if everything goes to plan during the race.<\/p>\n

Mekies has played his part in Verstappen deciding to stay at Red Bull<\/a> beyond the end of this season, which is by far the most important thing he could have done since his move from Racing Bulls.<\/p>\n

Now, Mekies has spoken about his burgeoning relationship with Verstappen, and what makes him an \u2018off-the-chart\u2019 driver to work with.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: All you need to know about Red Bull team principal and CEO Laurent Mekies<\/a><\/p>\n

\"RedPhoto by Rudy Carezzevoli\/Getty ImagesLaurent Mekies calls Max Verstappen\u2019s commitment to racing \u2018off-the-chart\u2019<\/p>\n

Mekies was speaking to The Inside Track Podcast after his first few weeks working for Red Bull and Verstappen, and said: \u201cYou remember how incredible he was in his first race for the team, whenever it was nine years ago or ten years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd you still have in your head that incredible debut, but fast forward, the numbers are unbelievable, and we have all been witnessing these numbers as competitors, and then suddenly you get to know him a little bit better at least since last race and and and you discover everything that is behind what you see on track.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuddenly, you understand, yes, that\u2019s how you get to such an unbelievable level.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd what I mean by that is that we know the on-track level and how unique that is, and then suddenly you discover Max off track and you discover a completely off-the-charts level of commitment, love for the sport, simplicity and a direct approach to the good moments and the bad moments and suddenly, it is becoming very clear that the combination of the two makes him untouchable and unique.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure, there are a lot of fast drivers out there, it\u2019s an unbelievable combination to have that raw talent combined with the absolute love and commitment for the sport and with all the understanding that has developed thanks to both aspects.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Red Bull driver Max Verstappen\u2019s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend<\/a><\/p>\n

Laurent Mekies explains what has \u2018surprised\u2019 him about Max Verstappen since working with him<\/p>\n

Mekies was then asked whether his initial impression of Verstappen behind the scenes had surprised him, and he continued: \u201cIt is fair, you can see it in my words.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, I have been surprised, actually. It\u2019s always easy to think that the drivers who win four world titles, and you get into a more difficult season, getting the second part of the season, it\u2019s a fight that is difficult for the title.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then you also hear the noise around and you see the level of focus he\u2019s able to have in this sort of moment, a level of calmness and drive that he\u2019s going to bring to the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe total absence of compromise in the approach he has and in the level of preparation he has before and after the race, and then, of course, I was surprised it\u2019s fair to say.\u201d<\/p>\n

Verstappen\u2019s Hungarian Grand Prix data would have concerned Red Bull<\/a>, and for the first time, a difficult Friday didn\u2019t lead to a far more positive Saturday for Mekies\u2019 team.<\/p>\n

Early rain on Sunday at the Hungaroring might give Verstappen hope that he can produce another strong wet race, although the RB21 doesn\u2019t look like a race-winning car on this occasion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Laurent Mekies is quickly getting up to learning just how impressive Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen is.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43101,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,32451,14758,825,806,805,803,804,946,85],"class_list":["post-43100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-motosport","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-hungarian-grand-prix","tag-laurent-mekies","tag-max-verstappen","tag-motor","tag-motor-sports","tag-motosport","tag-motosports","tag-red-bull-racing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43100\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}