Red Bull boss reveals ‘cannot happen again’ FIA request after Verstappen Super Licence
Laurent Mekies now works closely with Max Verstappen as Red Bull team principal.
Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies revealed that his very first job as FIA safety director a decade ago was to reform the Super Licence accreditation process, just after a 17-year-old Max Verstappen was awarded his.
Verstappen became Formula 1’s youngest ever debutant when he joined the grid in the 2015 season, but Mekies corrected the record in stating that, rather than helping the Dutch driver on his way to Formula 1, his then-new role was to put more guardrails in place to reach the top, as then-FIA President Jean Todt said “this cannot happen again.”
Mekies clears up Max Verstappen Super Licence story: ‘It’s actually the other way around’
Mekies had worked in the paddock with Arrows, Minardi and Toro Rosso before taking on an important role within the FIA in 2014, at a time when Verstappen was able to jump from Formula 3 straight to Formula 1 in time for debuting with Mekies’ former team the following season.
Mekies and Verstappen now work together closely in the hope of bringing more success to Red Bull, but the team principal revealed that because of the “ridiculous” nature of Verstappen earning a Super Licence so soon, it was his job to implement the more stringent rules that have been in use to this day.
When it was put to him on Red Bull’s in-house Talking Bull podcast that he had helped Verstappen on his way to a Super Licence, Mekies replied: “Well, don’t tell him, but it’s actually the other way around.
“I reached the FIA just as Max got his Super Licence at 17, and the very, very first thing Jean Todt, the president of the FIA at the time, asked me to do, he said: ‘Well, you know what, this young kid, Max, he just got his license at 17 years old. That’s ridiculous.
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“‘You know, people will not understand why you cannot have a driving licence for the street and you can drive a Formula 1 car, so please look at it with your team. Make a new structure for how you get a super licence, because this cannot happen again.’
“So thanks to Max being that outstanding, we now have a completely new super licence point system, including the minimum age.
“It’s better he doesn’t know that I was trying to stop him just a bit!”
To gain a Super Licence now, drivers need a minimum of 40 FIA Super Licence points to be acquired in a three-year period, as well as a minimum age of 18, with exceptions required for anyone younger to gain the right accreditation, among multiple other requirements.
Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad, though, received a rare exemption from the FIA earlier this year to be able to participate in FP1 at the British Grand Prix, a month before his 18th birthday.
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