Mekies after qualiffying in Zandvoort: 'Max did an incredible job'

Published on 30 August 2025 by Julien Lemmen

Laurent Mekies, team principal of Oracle Red Bull Racing, said after qualifying for the Dutch Grand Prix: "I think P3 was the absolute best Max could have done today, there were a lot of teams competing for P3, Mercedes, Ferrari and probably Fernando in the Aston as well. Max did an incredible job to have such a strong Qualifying and so did the Team. It has been no secret we have struggled with car balance all weekend and the Team kept trying things out on both sides of the garage, which ultimately put the car in a better window, so credit to them."

Mekies continues: "We unlocked some performance in the car and are extracting just about everything we can from it. Generally, the car has improved from where it was for most of the weekend and with that, we should be able to see performance in the race. It will be similar to Quali and a big fight behind the McLarens with four or five cars on very similar pace. Yuki has had a weekend where he has again shown progress, he has been at a reasonable gap to Max on a difficult track. He didn’t improve on his second set in Q2 and missed out by just one tenth, so it is still close and he is still building up. The pack is going to be very tight tomorrow, and we will see if we have the pace in the race to move through the field. We are looking forward to the race, the level of support the Team get here from the fans is just amazing. It’s not something you get in many other places in the world."

Contest Dutch GP: win a by Max Verstappen signed Red Bull Racing 2025 cap!