Laurent Mekies established that Red Bull needs to find the ‘maximum speed’, something he believes is lacking even with Max Verstappen’s podium at the Formula 1 Italian GP.
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The Dutchman started from fifth position in Monza and although he could not keep up with the Mercedes duo, he managed to cross the finish line in third place, thus overtaking Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly.
During the race, he made a pit stop that dropped him to seventh, but he managed to regain the lead and jumped onto the podium by finishing third. “It was a well-deserved podium for Max and the whole team. It was an intense weekend, but the race showed that our pace was quite strong,” he said.
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“Mercedes was a bit too fast for us, but we were strong enough to beat Ferrari and McLaren on our own merit. It was probably our best race pace in recent weeks and a step in the right direction,” he said.
“We won’t be satisfied until we reach the maximum possible speed, and clearly we still have challenges to overcome, which could unlock more performance once we fully understand these issues. Max has been incredible on track. He made several spectacular overtakes and defensive maneuvers and executed an aggressive strategy that got us on the podium,” he added.
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