Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has now been able to work with Max Verstappen for several months. The four-time F1 champion has previously spoken positively about the arrival of the Frenchman, who was promoted from Racing Bulls to the main team. Conversely, Mekies has a lot of admiration for Verstappen, as he recently made clear in a podcast interview. According to the team principal, Verstappen’s discipline in particular contributes to his success in motorsport.
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“Max (Verstappen, ed.) is simply unbeatable in everything he does,” Mekies began in an interview for Beyond the Grid. Even the peripheral matters that are mandatory for an F1 driver – and which Verstappen explicitly does not enjoy – he approaches with dedication. “If you ask him to go to a marketing or sponsor event, he shows the same discipline as, for example, in his debriefs. He realizes that it is important and that those tasks are also part of his job.”
Flipping the switch
That discipline also carries through into the current F1 season, in which Verstappen has completed three challenging opening Grands Prix. The gap to the front is large. As a racer pur sang, that might be difficult to process, but according to Mekies, Verstappen has his emotions under excellent control. “He understands the bigger picture and that it goes beyond the emotions he feels at that moment,” the team principal explained. “In this way, he always gives his best even in those situations. And I can imagine he can do that because he is so mentally strong and has the discipline to perform in every situation.”
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Mekies understands that emotions are part of sport, but he also knows that Verstappen knows how to switch them off perfectly when necessary. The Frenchman gave an example: “Sometimes we have a bad qualifying or a bad race. Then I don’t really feel like talking to anyone either. That’s how emotions work during difficult moments; you need a few seconds to let it sink in, so that you can support your team again afterwards. Verstappen naturally feels the same emotions as any other team member, but knows how to process them very well. As soon as he gets out of the car, a switch is immediately flipped and he can calmly analyze what needs to be improved.”
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