Bad news for Max Verstappen? Warning from team principal Laurent Mekies

Of all places, it was at the Silverstone Circuit – the Formula 1 track closest to their own F1 factory – that the Red Bull Racing team had a difficult weekend. This is already evident from the figures: Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar managed to score just 13 points during the Sprint weekend in the UK.

At the previous race weekend in Spielberg, they had scored twice as many World Championship points – even though there was no mini-race there and therefore fewer points were up for grabs. Yet Verstappen managed to battle at the front there and secure his first Grand Prix podium finish of the year. Hadjar, meanwhile, finished sixth.

At Silverstone, Verstappen once again fell victim to a rear wing failure; a similar problem had already caused him to crash out during qualifying at Spielberg. At Silverstone, it happened on the 48th lap of the race, and Verstappen was consequently forced out of the race. The fact that he was nevertheless classified in twentieth place – because the incident occurred just before the chequered flag – was, of course, no consolation for the ambitious Dutchman and his team. More encouraging was Hadjar’s fifth place, which he secured by capitalising on his team-mate’s misfortune.

Team principal Laurent Mekies nevertheless explained after the race: “This race clearly illustrates just how complex our current situation with the cars is. A week ago we were still fighting for victory, and just a few days later we were so restricted that we were unable to realise our full potential.”

The French engineer confirmed that this was certainly also linked to the track’s characteristics: “Yes, we believe this is exacerbated on a track like Silverstone. Because on circuits where energy consumption is high, we clearly struggle more. On tracks like these, we find it harder than the competition.” Looking ahead to the next race weekend at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Mekies warned: “I fear that Spa is likely to fall into this category as well.”

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