Mekies: “Verstappen made it clear to us that he wants to stay at Red Bull”

From SPIELBERG (AUSTRIA)
Red Bull was aiming to steal the spotlight at its home race, but that may not have been the reason for the Spielberg paddock’s excitement in the last few hours. The bombshell dropped by the Daily Mail, which claimed that Max Verstappen was in “secret” (or at least secret until a few hours ago) talks with McLaren, inevitably, albeit indirectly, “forced” Laurent Mekies to deny this. The Red Bull team boss was besieged with questions at the press conference and yet he answered broadly and without losing his smile: “Verstappen told us clearly that he wants to continue with us. He is also happy to be part of this team and it is clear that he needs a fast car to be happy.” Is Max calmer? The reason is almost obvious. According to Mekies, it was the – now final – decision regarding changes to the engine regulations that helped Verstappen stay at Red Bull; This will bring the current power units to a new 60:40 balance in favor of thermal: “If you remember, Max himself explained what the path should be regarding the 2027 and 2028 engine regulations (otherwise he threatened to withdraw several times, ed.). There were very open discussions between the FIA, F1 and the teams. We managed to make some adjustments in this regard, so we can say that we are in a very positive period for our sport.” “I think it’s great for Max, great for the drivers and great for the sport. We don’t ask Max every week how he’s doing. He works hard with us, helping us find the right development directions for the car. Even in FP1 he did very long and intense testing and tried in every possible way.”

Automobile Magazine – Formula1 English, News

2026-06-27 01:00:00

Automobile Magazine, 2026-06-27 01:21:00, automobilemagazine.com.tr

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