Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies has revealed the team is braced for a wet Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix, implementing a high-downforce set-up for Max Verstappen.
Mekies is set for his first-ever Grand Prix in charge of the Milton Keynes-based squad, having replaced Christian Horner.
He has already seen Verstappen take a victory in Saturday’s Sprint with a low-downforce configuration, similar to how he achieved his mesmeric pole position at Silverstone.
But the Dutchman’s race was ruined that day by the inclement weather, with his skinny rear wing rendering the RB21 a difficult machine to drive in the wet.
This time, the Red Bull engineers have pivoted and done the opposite, sacrificing qualifying for a better chance of victory in the race, but believe it can also challenge in the unlikely case of dry weather.
“Tomorrow, obviously, everything is a big reset and we’ll see what the weather is like,” Mekies told F1TV.
“I don’t think we are begging for [rain], but we’ve made quite a few choices on the car thinking that tomorrow we’ll get a bit less grip compared to now.
“Obviously, we have increased our downforce significantly.
“In that context, I think the rain is probably the best chance we have to reduce further the gap to McLaren.
“But, if it’s dry, we will take that as well, it will still be a big tyre management game, even in the dry.”
Verstappen’s distance to McLaren in qualifying ‘reflected the reality’
Verstappen was only able to find a time that was over three tenths off Lando Norris’ pole position time.
He was set for third, but was pipped by Charles Leclerc at the end, leaving him fourth on the grid.
Mekies is aware that the gap between Verstappen and the McLarens of Norris and Oscar Piastri was “fair” but claimed the team is up for the fight.
“The Q3 laps certainly felt a little bit more difficult to extract everything from the car, the balance a bit less together,” he added.
“There were some serious improvements corner to corner, but I think the gap to McLaren is probably fair.
“Obviously, a bit frustrating to be beaten by Charles for a few thousands, but it’s part of the game.
“Overall, the gap is what it is; two to three tenths to McLaren. I think it’s reflecting the reality and we’ll fight from there tomorrow.”
Despite Verstappen indicating the set-up backfired over qualifying, there is still huge potential for it to pay dividends if the rain continues to fall across Spa.
READ MORE – Max Verstappen concedes Red Bull set-up gamble ‘backfired’ in F1 Belgian GP qualifying
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