Laurent Mekies after first Red Bull Ford Powertrains podium: 'Historic moment'

Published on 25 May 2026 by Coen Versteeg

Laurent Mekies, CEO and team principal of Oracle Red Bull Racing, said after the Canadian Grand Prix: "Firstly, congratulations to everyone at Red Bull Ford Powertrains. To claim our very first podium with our own PU, in only its fifth race, is truly a historic moment, especially when you consider the pedigree and experience of our competitors. A PU on its own is not enough and of course this result is also down to the hard work of everyone back on campus in Milton Keynes and here at the track." 

He continues: "Overall, maybe we have closed the gap a little bit more to those ahead of us and this confirms we are moving in the right direction, but we are well aware that the next three to five tenths that we need to find are always the hardest ones. Max was as strong as always, very fast and very consistent, knowing the right time to apply pressure.  Isack was on the pace and got into the right rhythm from the start of the weekend and he delivered an impressive performance, also having to deal with a couple of penalties. It was important for the championship to have both cars scoring good points. We still have a lot to learn about how to extract everything out of the package we have, while at the same time, everyone in Milton Keynes is working flat out to bring our next development to the fight at the race track."