Laurent Mekies has called for a regroup at Red Bull following a disappointing weekend at the Dutch Grand Prix, admitting the Milton Keynes-based squad took a step back over the F1 summer break.
Aside from Max Verstappen's scary first-lap shunt at Zandvoort, the six-time constructors' champion endured an otherwise underwhelming weekend, save for the bright spot of Liam Lawson, who produced a strong display while deputising for the injured Isack Hadjar.
Verstappen could only manage sixth in the sprint before qualifying seventh for the full-distance race, which was cut short after his crash. Mekies was relieved to see him walk away unharmed.
“Difficult weekend in Zandvoort. First of all, the most important thing is that Max is okay. It was a pretty big shunt, and we are all glad to see that he's out of the car, unharmed,” said Mekies.
Assessing the underlying pace of the RB22, Mekies admitted the team had “nowhere to hide” over its lacklustre showing. He was quick to point out that Red Bull was denied the opportunity to see Verstappen in full race trim, which also prevented Lawson from having a true benchmark.
“Performance-wise, there is nowhere to hide. It was a very difficult weekend. It seems like we have made a bit of a step back compared to where we were before the summer break,” he added.
Before the paddock heads to the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Mekies wants answers. “We need to regroup and see if it is simply the competition that has done a better job at upgrading the car, or if something has been limiting us more than it should have been in Zandvoort. So that will be for us the next two weeks before we fight back in Monza all together,” he concluded.
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