Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies has said there is “zero concern” about the future of Max Verstappen in Formula 1, despite last week’s comments about the current cars.
The Dutchman was typically unfiltered and outspoken when asked to assess his early impressions of the cars that comply with the new regulations.
Verstappen was uninspired by the increased electrification, saying his runs in the RB22 felt like “Formula E on steroids.”
A media storm in an admittedly large teacup ensued, sparking some hysteria, and concern that the four-time World Champion would be willing to quit the sport.
But Mekies, speaking at the Bahrain International Circuit, was adamant that Verstappen will remain exactly where he is for the forseeable future.
“[The] short answer is no. Zero concern about that,” the Frenchman said to media including Motorsport Week.
“And yes, I do recall our conversations last year when he was switching from a car model to another car model – ’25 to ’26 in the sim – and, yes, the difference was so big that at some stage, I think rightly so, he decided to focus on the ’25 approach.”
Mekies continued: “But the reality is that the challenge of these regulations are massive. They are massive for the teams, they are massive for the power unit manufacturers, they are massive for the drivers as well.
“So it is different for all of us, but that’s also what we love: to try to break through these challenges, to try to find solutions that we felt were not on the table.
“That’s what we will do with Max’s help and I’m quite confident that, as it will turn out, he will most likely become the best at mastering the new regs and technicalities and tricks as much as he was in the previous set of regulations.”
Red Bull has continued to log significant mileage with relatively impressive pace in the second week in Bahrain, but the pudding – in which will lie the proof – will not be fully baked until when the action truly starts in Melbourne next month.
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