Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies explained why the team has been vindicated in its belief that its disastrous showing at the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix was a one-off.
The Milton Keynes-based squad managed to land a positive points haul in last weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen finishing second and Yuki Tsunoda ninth.
It was another commanding performance from runaway leaders McLaren, with Oscar Piastri taking victory, and Lando Norris odds on for second before his retirement.
The Woking-based squad’s supreme showing, pulling away from Verstappen even when on a harder compound, was an undeniable display of dominance from the team.
But it was a much brighter day for Red Bull, particularly after its Budapest horror show just before the F1 summer break.
There, Verstappen could only manage ninth place in the race, being the last of the cars to finish on the lead lap, some 72 seconds behind eventual race-winner Norris.
It prompted understandable concern from the team, but after the race at Zandvoort, Mekies explained that its internal discussions post-Budapest proved to be accurate.
“I think at least it shows that Budapest was a one-off, which is, in this room, three weeks ago, that’s what we said to each other, that we were hoping Budapest would be a one-off,” Mekies told media including Motorsport Week.
“It shows it was a one-off. It’s quite interesting, because it’s a fairly similar characteristic to Budapest.
“It’s a a touch faster, but ultimately, we were the second force here, which is not something we are happy with, because the gap to McLaren was still punishing in the race.
“When they wanted to push, they have been able to push them to disappear, so we are under no illusions.
“But here on this track, unlike Budapest, we have been able to deal with the Mercedes, we have been able to deal with the Ferrari, so that’s encouraging.”
Mekies encouraged but still not happy with Red Bull plight in 2025
Mekies tempered the potential happiness and palpable relief that the team was at least back to some semblance of form, reiterating that it would never settle for second best.
“Are we happy? No, because as we said, we struggled quite a lot to put the car into the right spot between Friday morning and Saturday qualifying, but it’s encouraging,” he said.
Mekies added it is a moment for the team to “continue to learn”, explaining that it is an exercise to understand how the team can improve going forward before the end of the season.
“You know, it’s not so much about championship positions for the remaining nine races,” he added.
“It’s about using everything we can to keep building the understanding, especially on a project that was suboptimal compared to what we were hoping for.”
READ MORE – How a Zandvoort quirk almost cost Oliver Bearman points from the pit lane in F1 Dutch GP
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