Red Bull issues ‘not happy’ assessment after Verstappen P4 in Qatar sprint
Red Bull Racing team principal Laurent Mekies has revealed that the team is focused on extracting more performance after describing their Qatar Sprint result as “damage limitation.”
“A bit of damage limitation… we won't rest until we are in that window.”- Laurent Mekies
The 48-year-old, in his assessment of his side’s Sprint race, labelled it a damage limitation before doubling down to say the team isn’t happy with the performance of its car.
“A bit of damage limitation. It's fair to say we are not quite happy with the car, but hopefully we have more to come,” Mekies told Sky Sports.
Mekies stressed how narrow the performance gap is between the top teams, before highlighting that the team will aim to extract more from its car.
“We have to try to see if we can extract a tenth or more out of the car. The top four drivers were quite close, but on our side, there's something more we can do. The optimum performance window is undoubtedly very narrow — that's not a secret,” he added.
The Red Bull team boss, however, stressed that the team will not rest until it achieves a desirable result.
“We won't rest until we are in that window. That's how we go racing. We don't take second for an answer. We will keep trying.”
The Qatar Sprint proved to be a challenging outing for Red Bull and Max Verstappen. The Dutch driver could only finish in fourth place, behind both of his championship rivals, while teammate Yuki Tsunoda finished fifth.
Verstappen gives verdict on Sprint struggle
In his post-Sprint assessment, Verstappen detailed what the Red Bull team will need to achieve improved performance during qualifying. The four-time champion highlighted the need to eliminate the unpredictability and bouncing of his car, which he had been managing throughout the Qatar Grand Prix weekend.
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