Verstappen and Red Bull Refine Strategy Amidst Season Resurgence
Max Verstappen has emphasized the collaborative efforts at Red Bull Racing aimed at narrowing the performance gap to McLaren. After a challenging middle portion of the 2023 season, where the team secured only one podium finish (second place in Canada) in the seven races leading up to the summer break, Red Bull has surged back to form. Since the Zandvoort Grand Prix, Verstappen has achieved two victories and two second-place finishes, marking a significant turnaround.
Verstappen credited team principal Laurent Mekies for contributing to this resurgence, although he downplayed his own impact: “Laurent is probably being too nice in that sense… what is very good is that we approach it as a proper team effort.” He noted that the team’s focus on understanding its weaknesses has paid off: “We always tried to look into the details… since a few races ago, it’s definitely picked up a lot.”
Despite recent improvements, Verstappen cautioned that the RB21 may not excel on every circuit. He described the layout in Singapore as suboptimal for the team: “We were more competitive [in Singapore], but I think it’s still not our favorite layout… we just have to take it race by race.”
Mekies acknowledged the contributions of Verstappen and the entire team, highlighting their determination not to abandon the season. “Progress in the last few weeks has been quite spectacular,” he stated. “It’s credit to Max, who has been pushing us to explore different avenues. Finally, we found an avenue that unlocked a bit of performance.”
Red Bull is focused on continuous development, with insights from the latest races helping shape their competitive edge. Mekies concluded, “It seems that we have a competitive package on most tracks… we are not looking backward; we are looking forward.”
