Mekies Not Surprised by Red Bull’s Pace Deficit in Australia, Cites Pre-Season “Games”
Red Bull’s Laurent Mekies was not surprised to see his team off the pace of Ferrari and Mercedes during the Australian Grand Prix, attributing some of the discrepancy to “games” played during pre-season testing.
Red Bull began the season with a sixth-place finish for Max Verstappen, who recovered from 20th on the grid following an incident in Q1, where his car briefly went off track at Turn 1 due to a suspected rear axle lock-up.
Meanwhile, Red Bull’s other driver, Isack Hadjar, had shown strong pace by qualifying third, but a technical issue prevented him from finishing the race, leaving Verstappen to represent the team’s best points haul.
“We predicted that we would be fourth among the teams coming out of pre-season testing,” Mekies told PlanetF1.com.
“It was probably a touch better than that this weekend, considering Isack’s P3 on the grid. In the race, we were at least on pace with McLaren, but certainly not able to fight Ferrari or Mercedes. It was not a surprise.”
Mekies confirmed that during testing in Bahrain, the team knew some rivals were masking their true performance.
“It was very difficult to evaluate, because some games were being played to hide pace. The gap we see here is probably what we expected to deal with.”
When asked about the deficit to Mercedes specifically in Australia, Mekies estimated it at around one second per lap, though he stressed it’s too early to draw conclusions over the entire season.
The team continues to investigate Verstappen’s Q1 incident.
“We don’t have 100% certainty yet, but it’s getting close. We think it’s a combination of factors, and we’ve taken some actions to stay on the safe side for the race. More work will be done between here and China.”
Despite the challenges, Mekies hailed Red Bull’s debut as an autonomous manufacturer, with Red Bull Powertrains scoring points in its first race.
“The dominant feeling is that we have confirmed we are in the fight,” he said.
“We are very proud of everyone in Milton Keynes for the work done over the last three years to be competitive from race one. We have the ambition and obligation to do better, but the starting point is that we were fighting here, and we’ll continue to do so in China.”
Mekies added that while Red Bull is not yet in contention for the title, the team’s goal is to remain competitive in the upper midfield while developing faster than the competition.
“Being top four is the right starting point given where the project is. We’ll fight in that group, learn, and develop to challenge further as the season progresses.”
Red Bull’s opening weekend highlighted both promise and areas to improve, as the team adapts to the new technical regulations and its first season as a fully independent manufacturer.