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Laurent Mekies lauded his Red Bull team for their "spicy" strategic calls during the Hungarian Grand Prix, which ultimately helped Max Verstappen secure a second-place finish.
This result marks the Dutchman's best performance of the season so far and his third podium in the last four races. The Milton Keynes-based squad continues to show a resurgence in form after a challenging start to their campaign.
Before the 70-lap race at the Hungaroring, Mekies believed a podium finish was out of reach. Initial simulations suggested that Lando Norris and the Ferrari drivers would be beyond Verstappen's grasp, who started fourth after grid penalties for Lewis Hamilton and Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
However, these predictions proved conservative, as the RB22 chassis performed better than expected, despite the four-time world champion's dissatisfaction throughout the weekend.
"In terms of pre-race predictions, for what they were worth, we thought Lando and both Ferraris would be out of reach," the Red Bull boss stated. "That's how we felt, and we thought we could compete with some of the Mercedes drivers and possibly Oscar [Piastri]. As it turned out, we managed to fight with both Ferraris, but Lando was out of our reach."
Mekies emphasized how Red Bull's strategists made the difference in Budapest. Numerous unconventional decisions, including those made during the Virtual Safety Car period triggered by Oscar Piastri, paid off handsomely for their high-risk approach.
"Regarding the Virtual Safety Car, the guys made some pretty spicy strategic calls today, including that one. But not just that; if you look at the earlier move not to cover Lewis when he pitted early," the Frenchman highlighted. "As always, they consistently make the right decisions. So, congratulations to everyone on the pit wall, the entire team back home, the tire group, and the strategy group.""I think overall, the race execution here was very, very strong. At the beginning of the year, we struggled with our starts. Now we're managing to get decent starts, strong pit stops, and very strong strategy, as always.""So, I'm certainly very happy with how the team has been performing in these last few races, as it has returned to the exceptional level it's known for," the 49-year-old specialist added.
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