Mekies: Verstappen talks focused on Red Bull’s long-term development

Red Bull’s talks with Max Verstappen about his contract focused on the team’s longer-term development potential, not a single upgrade to suddenly deliver the performance it needed, team principal Laurent Mekies said after Verstappen’s first win of the campaign at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.

Verstappen committed to Red Bull in August, extending his contract until 2030. Mekies said the team was not waiting for one upgrade to produce the required performance. At the time of the talks, Red Bull thought it would probably struggle to find the final three tenths of lap time needed to reach that level, he said.

The discussions instead covered the potential of Red Bull’s chassis and power-unit work, including the teams of Pierre Waché and Ben Hodgkinson. Mekies said they also discussed where the team might find lap time in the short and long term.

Verstappen finished the Azerbaijan Grand Prix two tenths behind race winner George Russell, then took his first win of the campaign at the next round in Sepang. Mekies described the Baku upgrade as part of the car’s continuing development, not a sudden breakthrough; Red Bull later revised the floorboard geometry for Sepang.

Mekies said the progress had not solved every problem with the car. Verstappen and Isack Hadjar felt more comfortable with the package, he said, but Red Bull still needed to improve how it handled different conditions and circuit layouts.