Red Bull Racing team principal Laurent Mekies: “That would surprise me”

The fact that Max Verstappen is always a force to be reckoned with was demonstrated once again in the Sprint Qualifying session at the Silverstone Circuit. After the four-time champion had finished the first free practice session in sixth place, just under a second behind Lewis Hamilton’s fastest time, expectations were not particularly high.

The Dutchman once again finished sixth in the first two segments of the Sprint qualifying session. The gap to the fastest times – once again set by the seven-time world champion – ranged between just under four and five tenths of a second. When it really mattered, the exceptional talent from the Red Bull Racing team then set the third-fastest lap. He was 0.321 seconds slower than the record-holding Grand Prix winner from the Ferrari team. His team-mate Isack Hadjar was only 0.138 seconds slower than him in SQ3, but had to settle for eighth place.

Team principal Laurent Mekies explained: “It was very close. I’m not quite sure whether we should be satisfied with third place. We’re still struggling a bit with the track and are still a long way from having the optimal car. But everyone’s in the same boat and that’s just part of it. We’ll gladly take third place. And Isack was only just under one and a half tenths slower, so the gap isn’t that big either.”

Red Bull Racing team principal Laurent Mekies: Every detail counts

Looking ahead to the upcoming sprint race and the rest of the weekend, he said: “It’s difficult to get the energy management right on this track. We’ll have to see how we can improve the car even further as the weekend progresses.”

Mekies does not expect to see the same pecking order in the GP qualifying and the Grand Prix: “To be honest, there’s still a lot to learn – there’s no question about that. The gaps between the top teams are small, so every detail counts. And after the Sprint, we’ll be able to tweak the set-up again. I think we can still make a difference there. I’d be surprised if we saw the same order in the Grand Prix qualifying and race as we did in the Sprint qualifying.”