Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Circuit of the Americas, 2025

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies said nobody at the team expected the leap forward they made with their car after the summer break.

Mekies took charge of the team after the British Grand Prix in July. At his second race in charge Max Verstappen struggled to a ninth place finish at the Hungaroring as Red Bull continued to struggle with their RB21.

However the team made a breakthrough with their car soon afterwards. In the six races since then Verstappen has scored four wins (one in a sprint race) and two second places, which has propelled him back into serious contention in the drivers’ championship.

Mekies admitted the change in the team’s form has come as a surprise to them. “Everyone has been – I’m not going to lie – we have said it, certainly for the people working there, it’s been something nobody was expecting,” he said on Friday.

“The change that has been made: I did not expect it, they didn’t expect it. It was certainly, for them, probably very difficult to digest and to figure out.”

He is only the second team principal in Red Bull’s history having taken over from Christian Horner, who introduced the team to F1 in 2005.

“I can only be very thankful for how open and how welcoming everyone has been,” said Mekies. “It’s been a very good feeling that every day that passes you [get to] know a few more people in the company, you understand a bit more of the dynamics and a bit more of the flows. I’m only thankful to everyone there for how helpful they have been in making the transition.”

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and

Mekies said credit for the team’s breakthrough should first go to the engineering team led by technical director Pierre Wache.

“It’s important to underline that the turnaround is due to the women and men in Milton Keynes that have been, as we’ve said several times, working on this car, not accepting the limitations of the project, trying to find solutions, not giving up, balancing 2025 and 2026,” he said. “That’s a very large group that is led by Pierre, that has managed to turn it around after weeks and months of effort.

“Sometimes you make these efforts and you don’t get the reward on track. In this case, after so many attempts, it’s been positive to see that the car was reacting and that we could give something that our drivers could perform better with.”

Miss nothing from RaceFans

Get a daily email with all our latest stories – and nothing else. No marketing, no ads. Sign up here:

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and

2025 United States Grand Prix

Browse all 2025 United States Grand Prix articles