How ‘off-the-charts’ Max Verstappen has surprised his new Red Bull F1 team boss

Laurent Mekies has admitted to being surprised by Max Verstappen’s level as a driver across his first race weekends with Red Bull Racing.

Mekies was promoted from Racing Bulls to Red Bull when Christian Horner was removed from his long tenure as the CEO and team boss of the Milton Keynes-based squad.

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Mekies stepped up into his new position with Red Bull following the British Grand Prix, having held the role of team boss at sister team Racing Bulls since the start of F1 2024.

Despite a long career at Faenza in the past, Mekies’ path had not overlapped with Verstappen in the Dutch driver’s short time at the then-Toro Rosso team when he arrived into F1 at the end of 2014 and through until mid-2016 as a race driver before his Red Bull promotion.

Instead, Mekies had moved to work with the FIA and, later, as deputy team boss and sporting director at Ferrari, before his return to Faenza two years ago.

As a result, the last two race weekends across the Belgian and Hungarian Grands Prix marked the first time in which Mekies has worked directly with the four-time F1 World Champion.

It was during these weekends that Verstappen put an end to the speculation surrounding his future by re-committing to Red Bull for F1 2026.

While the Dutch driver couldn’t welcome Mekies to the team with a podium finish as he finished fourth at Spa-Francorchamps before a ninth-place finish at the Hungaroring, Mekies spoke glowingly about his first experiences with a driver widely regarded as being the best of his generation.

Having only witnessed Verstappen from arm’s length despite sharing a stable with Verstappen, Mekies revealed how the four-time F1 World Champion has displayed a combination of talents which has caught him by surprise.

“Suddenly, you get to know him a little bit better, at least since the last race, and you discover everything that is behind what you see on track,” he told the BBC’s Inside Track podcast.

“Suddenly, you understand that’s how you get to such an unbelievable level. What I mean by that is that we know the on-track level and how unique that is, and then suddenly you discover Max off track, and you discover a completely off-the-charts level of commitment, love for the sport, simplicity, and a direct approach to the good moments and the bad moments.

“Suddenly, it’s very clear that the combination makes him untouchable and unique. There are a lot of fast drivers out there. It’s an unbelievable combination to have that raw talent combined with the absolute love and commitment for the sport, with all the understanding that he has developed.”

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Despite having had some inside information on Verstappen already, given he has shared a hospitality unit with Red Bull over the past 20 months or so, the Frenchman revealed he has been somewhat taken aback by what he’s witnessed from Verstappen.

“Of course, I have been surprised. It’s always easy to think that you know the drivers,” he said.

“You win four world titles, and you get into a more difficult season, get in the second part of the season in a fight that is difficult for for the title, hearing the noise around, and you see how the level of focus he is able to have in this sort of moment, a level of calmness and the drive he is going to bring to the team – the total absence of compromise in the approach he has and in the level of preparation he has before and after the race. Of course, I was surprised.”

Asked whether Verstappen has already proven himself to be the best driver with whom Mekies has worked, Mekies said it wouldn’t be right to compare so quickly, but admitted, “Was I surprised, despite the unbelievable results he has had already, so you would expect something extraordinary?

“Yes, I was surprised. It was well beyond what I was expecting.”

Aside from the results Verstappen can and often does achieve in a car which has proven to be less competitive this year, Mekies said the Dutch driver’s value goes far beyond the on-track achievements.

“It’s always a collaboration in the partnerships – it’s not only for the drivers, it’s for the drivers, for the team members, it’s a large company, and it’s a very large group,” he said.

“It’s about trying to make sure that everyone is expressing their talent best. Miss that by two per cent, five per cent, multiplied by a number of people, and you are going to lose quite a lot of time on the table.

“So it’s always about the relationship. In Max’s case, the feeling you have is that there is so much to download from him to drive the team well beyond what he’s doing on track.”

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