Red Bull’s hopes of staying in the title fight took a major hit in Brazil after a setup gamble on the RB21 failed to deliver. Team principal Laurent Mekies admitted after qualifying that the team’s bold approach backfired, with Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda finishing only sixteenth and nineteenth. The poor result leaves the Dutch driver 39 points behind Lando Norris following the Sprint Race.
It was a disastrous Saturday at Interlagos for the reigning champions. In a weekend completely dominated by Lando Norris — now the clear favorite for the World Championship — Max Verstappen lost crucial points in the Sprint Race and was shockingly eliminated in Q1 during qualifying. It was a result that few could explain, especially given Red Bull’s recent aerodynamic upgrades, which were meant to breathe new life into the RB21.
Red Bull disaster in Brazil: Mekies explains what went wrong
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Laurent Mekies detailed the reasoning behind Red Bull’s failed setup strategy: “Obviously, nobody expected a performance like this. We’ve been unhappy with the car almost since we arrived here. You’ve heard about our struggles during free practice and the Sprint Race. We weren’t in a position to fight for victory, but we still hoped to battle with the group right behind the leaders.”
“It’s fair to say we took a few more risks before qualifying,” the Red Bull team principal emphasized. “We wanted to see if we could put the car in a better window, but we ended up going in the wrong direction. Sometimes that’s the price you pay when you take risks — it doesn’t always go the way you hope. It hurts, but it’s something we can learn from and improve on.”
Mekies added: “We took some big risks, making significant changes to the car. It’s the kind of gamble you have to take if you want to give yourself a chance. They were bold adjustments — we’ve been taking an aggressive approach for a long time, it’s our way of racing, and sometimes it comes back to bite you.”
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