Mekies: It never felt granted to be on pole

Red Bull Team Principal Laurent Mekies admitted that securing top spot - his first since he took over the helm - was far from expected given recent struggles: “It never felt granted to be on pole. The good news this weekend was that we were certainly closer to the fight for pole as we have not been in the fight for a few races now so it was good to feel that it could have happened.

“Nonetheless we felt the two McLarens or two Ferraris or perhaps the two Mercedes could be on pole so there were six or seven cars fighting for it and Max and the team did a very good job and they have been starting on the right foot on Friday and trying to chase the thousands of a second up until that final session of qualifying and it’s nice to see it got us some rewards today.”

Despite the record-breaking lap, Mekies underlined the challenge Red Bull still face against McLaren, who have set the standard for long-run pace this season: “We are well aware the advantage of McLaren tends to increase in the race."

"We have been in the situation a few times where we are in front of them in the race and they have more pace. We are working every weekend to try and reduce that deficit and tomorrow will be another answer on our progress in that area," reckoned Mekies.

The Frenchman, who succeeded Christian Horner earlier this year, inherited a team no longer in a position of dominance. McLaren lead the way, Mercedes are closing in, and Red Bull’s presence at the front is under greater pressure than at any point during Verstappen’s championship run.

Verstappen has kept Red Bull in podium contention, but dominance has eluded him. Mekies acknowledged that the RB21 continues to display the same shortcomings that have shaped the season: “You know, he doesn't feel a fundamental difference from what the characteristics have been all year.

“Even here with a lower level of downforce, he found again the same characteristics, the same limitations that we’ve been pretty much dealing with with this car this season. However, are we visibly running into the same sort of additional issues as last year? It doesn’t seem to be the case, but again, it’s super early days, with only FP1.”

That consistency of limitation has defined Red Bull’s 2025 campaign. Verstappen’s second place at Zandvoort came only after Lando Norris retired late, underlining the fragile margins that keep Red Bull in contention.

Since stepping up from Racing Bulls, Mekies has prioritised building a structure to return Red Bull to the top. “The real focus has been... we don’t want to underestimate how long it takes to truly know a team and a company. It doesn't happen in one or two months.

“The focus, as we said already in Spa, has been: let’s try to meet as many people as possible. Let’s try to get an understanding. Of course, now six weeks have passed, so it’s a bit better than Spa. Every day, you understand a bit better how the team is working.

“Every day, you meet more people, start building an understanding about the flows and the structure. Now, what we’re trying to do with the team is to map together what we need to unlock next to go back to an even more competitive scenario. That’s where the focus is now. The first phase was observation only; now the second phase is building with the team a map of what we need to unlock, to unlock more.”

For Verstappen, Saturday in Monza was another reminder of his genius in the cockpit to extract single-lap speed out of the finicky RB21. For Mekies, the Italian Grand Prix represents another checkpoint in Red Bull’s effort to claw their way back to the front in the longer game.