Source: Official Team Post via X
Red Bull Acknowledges 'Team to Beat' Status After Russell's Praise
Red Bull's Laurent Mekies acknowledges George Russell's claim that they are the 'team to beat' after recent victories. Mekies highlights Red Bull's strong performance but remains cautious about future competition.
George Russell, the Mercedes driver, has publicly acknowledged Red Bull as the current 'team to beat' in Formula 1 following their recent success on diverse circuits. This sentiment, shared after Max Verstappen's victories, has not been dismissed by Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies.
In the recent races, Verstappen clinched victories at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia and dominated both the sprint and main events at the Singapore Grand Prix. These performances have positioned Red Bull at the forefront, prompting Russell to revise his view of the competition. He remarked to PlanetF1.com and other media, "The performance of Red Bull has been very impressive the last three weeks on three very different circuits and, right now, they are the team to beat."
While Russell's teammate, Kimi Antonelli, believes Mercedes still has untapped potential with its latest upgrades, Russell's assessment found resonance with Mekies. Although Red Bull has modestly downplayed its capabilities throughout the season, Mekies conceded that the team had demonstrated winning pace in the recent triple-header of races.
"In these last three races, we had the pace to win, and actually we won two out of the three," Mekies commented, acknowledging the competitive nature of the circuits they conquered. He pointed out that despite their current success, the competitive landscape could shift quickly if rivals introduce significant upgrades.
Mekies praised the technical efforts of Pierre Waché and Ben Hodgkinson at Red Bull Powertrains but stressed the importance of remaining vigilant. "It's a fight every race weekend to extract everything," he cautioned, noting that past seasons have seen similar ebbs and flows in performance among top teams.
Red Bull, having completed its major upgrades for the year, remains focused on leveraging their learnings for future seasons, with a particular eye on 2027. Mekies underscored their ongoing commitment to improvement, even as the current season sees them leading the pack.
Thus, while Red Bull enjoys its moment as the 'team to beat,' Mekies remains pragmatic about the ever-evolving nature of Formula 1, where today's leader can quickly become tomorrow's challenger.