We are always on the edge” – Red Bull admits it didn’t give Max Verstappen “a car to push with
After stepping onto the podium at the Hungaroring, Max Verstappen was left wondering one thing during the post-race press conference:
“How the hell did I end up here? I was shocked, I’m actually still shocked.”
The second-place finish naturally pleased Verstappen, but he immediately stressed that Red Bull’s problems have not yet been resolved.
Just as on Saturday, the four-time world champion struggled with the car balance – mainly oversteer throughout the weekend – and after the race Verstappen also revealed that he had once again noticed damage to his car, without going into further detail.
Mekies admitted that Red Bull was unable to extract everything from its package during the final race before the summer break and that the team failed to give its drivers the tools to fight.
“I think we never managed to give Max and Isack [Hadjar] a car they could push with,” Mekies admitted on Sunday night.
“If I look back at the drivers’ feedback in Spa or Austria, they would probably have said that the car was pretty much in the ballpark, as to how it should feel and what it allows them to do.
“That was never the case this weekend. It was certainly worse on Friday and Saturday compared to today, but still today I have to say that it was probably not giving the drivers a very good feeling.”
Verstappen was shocked by his podium finish in Hungary and insists that Red Bull’s problems are by no means resolved
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images
Despite that, Mekies described it as encouraging that the outright pace is theoretically there. While Verstappen openly wondered how he had managed to finish on the podium despite all of Red Bull’s problems, Mekies insisted that Verstappen was actually the second-fastest driver on outright pace.
“I think it’s fair to say that only Lando [Norris] was clearly faster than Max today. I think everyone else he could have matched or beaten. So I guess it’s positive because it means that we have margin to improve with the current package.”
That does not mean Red Bull has no work to do – quite the opposite.
According to Mekies, Red Bull must understand ahead of Zandvoort why the RB22 has such a narrow operating window, while the team also needs to improve its consistency.
“We’ll try to see why we are so much on the edge of the car balance, corner balance, the car performing, and the car not performing.
“It’s been hard work, certainly for the drivers, but also for the team in these last few races to keep the car in its window.”
According to Mekies, Red Bull needs to focus on the operating window of the RB22 and improving consistency
Photo by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Images via Getty Images
Red Bull only the fourth team heading into the summer break?
Because of that lack of consistency, and because Red Bull started the season with a significant deficit partly due to an overweight car, the team currently sits fourth in the constructors’ championship. The gap to leaders Mercedes has already grown to more than 200 points.
The deficit to third-placed McLaren is “only” 43 points, helped by reliability problems for the Woking-based team, but McLaren has taken a significant step forward with its upgrades in Hungary, as Mekies also acknowledged.
“Yes, I think the package they’ve brought here has certainly made them a big jump. So it is certainly impressive,” Red Bull’s team principal said when asked by Motorsport.com.
“Let’s see how it performs on a different track, but if I just look at Budapest and the job they have made, it’s certainly quite impressive.
“I think it’s the first race where we beat both Ferrari and both Mercedes, but I have to say that McLaren did a very good job with the pace they have shown today.”
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