Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has accepted full responsibility for the incident that ended Max Verstappen’s British Grand Prix, admitting that the team was at fault after another rear wing failure forced the Dutchman out of the race.
The incident occurred at Stowe Corner with only a handful of laps remaining and came after Verstappen had worked his way into podium contention. It was a particularly significant admission, given the four-time world champion’s furious criticism of the team following the race, where he pointed out that it was the second rear wing-related failure in just two race weekends, following his crash during qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix.
Mekies accepts responsibility
After the race, Laurent Mekies also held discussions with Jos Verstappen and Max Verstappen’s manager, Raymond Vermeulen, regarding the Dutch driver’s future. Speaking afterwards, the Frenchman openly acknowledged Red Bull’s responsibility for the incident that cost Verstappen a potential podium finish.
“We had a problem with the rear wing, so it’s our fault,” Mekies said. “We apologise to Max. It’s not the first time that one of our issues has caused him to go off the track. It’s never pleasant to be responsible for sending your own driver into the gravel.”
A podium opportunity lost
Despite the retirement, Mekies also highlighted the positives from Max Verstappen’s race pace, believing Red Bull had made progress compared to the rest of the Silverstone weekend.
“The most important thing is that he’s okay,” the Red Bull team principal added. “Yes, our pace was certainly better than what we had shown earlier this weekend, so we definitely made some progress. We were a little weaker on the Hard tyres, but Max was extremely strong during both of his stints on the Medium compound.”
Mekies admitted that Red Bull had thrown away a genuine opportunity to finish on the podium.
“We could have finished on the podium, but today we wasted that opportunity. It’s up to us to improve.”
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