Verstappen credits Mekies’ setup shift for dominant Monza romp
Max Verstappen credits Laurent Mekies’ setup shift for dominant Red Bull win at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza
Max Verstappen and Helmut Marko pointed to a reset in Red Bull Racing’s weekend preparation under new team principal Laurent Mekies as the key to a stunning Italian Grand Prix victory at Monza, where Verstappen took pole and then cruised to a near-20-second triumph over the McLarens—the largest winning margin of the season in Formula 1.
The Monza masterclass marked Red Bull’s first grand prix win not overseen by Christian Horner, who was replaced by former engineer Mekies in late July. It also continued a notable uptick in form following the F1 summer break, coming on the heels of Verstappen’s podium at the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort a week earlier.
Verstappen on improved setup strategy
Verstappen, who has been candid about the RB’s fickle setup window over the past 18 months, said the team has sharpened its focus and taken a more disciplined approach to extracting performance from the Red Bull F1 car through improved weekend setup strategy and trackside execution.
"Up until now we've had a lot of races where we were just shooting left and right a little bit with the set-up of the car," Verstappen said on Sunday. "Quite extreme changes, which shows that we were not in control. We were not fully understanding what to do.
"With Laurent having an engineering background, he's asking the right questions to the engineers -- common-sense questions -- so I think that works really well. Plus, you try to understand from the things that you have tried, that at one point some things give you a bit of an idea of a direction, and that's what we kept on working on.
"I definitely felt that in Zandvoort already we took a step that seemed to work quite well, and then here another step which felt again a little bit better."
Red Bull’s refined weekend preparation
While car concepts and upgrades don’t transform overnight—most developments are long in the pipeline and would have been green-lit prior to Mekies’ arrival—Red Bull says the difference lies in how it’s applying those tools at the track, blending simulation data with driver feedback for better setup correlation and a more stable car balance.
Long-time advisor Helmut Marko echoed that message, emphasizing refinement over reinvention. "The difference is that the preparation of a weekend is a different one now," Marko said, as per Motorsport.com.
"Laurent is an excellent engineer, so now the idea is more to take whatever the simulation shows us, but mix that with the experience that Max has and with the experience that our racing engineers have. That's how we want to make a car that is more predictable and drivable.
"This is the product of that. Basically, it's the same product as we had before, just some upgrades were coming and they are working. But 20 seconds on McLaren, I wouldn't have predicted that."
Championship context
Verstappen’s Monza win was his third of the season and first since May’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix. Despite the resurgence, he remains a long shot in the Formula 1 championship fight, sitting third in the standings, 96 points behind leader Oscar Piastri.
Up Next
