Helmut Marko outlines ‘significant’ improvements as Laurent Mekies pushes Red Bull changes

Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko has applauded Laurent Mekies’ influence on the team.

Mekies replaced long-standing Red Bull Racing CEO and team principal Christian Horner on 9 July, stepping up from his role as Racing Bulls team chief. Since then, the Frenchman has implemented changes to Friday strategies and also helped push upgrades to Yuki Tsunoda’s ca, bringing it almost inline with that of four-time Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen’s.

Marko discussed the changes made to the team’s approach to the first two practice sessions on Friday.

“It’s mainly a different approach to practice. We’re trying things out and already pushing closer to the limit during practice,” the Austrian explained to Sky Germany. “That allows us to find the car’s maximum earlier and ensures we’re not as far off in set-up direction compared to the past.”

Verstappen went on to secure pole position for the Italian Grand Prix, and Tsunoda went 10th fastest but will start the race at Monza from ninth after Lewis Hamilton’s five-place grid penalty is applied. 

During a separate discussion with Sky Germany following qualifying, Marko reiterated the influence Mekies has had on the team and specifically the Friday changes.

“A big one. That approach comes directly from him,” Marko said. “On a technical level, the communication has improved significantly, and that’s having a positive impact on the whole team. You can see it, for example, with Yuki — finishing P10. I honestly can’t even remember the last time he reached Q3. You can clearly feel the upward trend.”

Helmut Marko, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Marco Canoniero / LightRocket via Getty Images

He added: “It was the best Friday we’ve had — I honestly can’t remember having such a good Friday in a long time. We slightly changed our practice philosophy, our overall approach. We’ve got a new floor on the car, and Max felt comfortable right from the start. Step by step, we fine-tuned the car. We were always close, but on Friday we were mainly losing time in sector 1.

“We’ve fixed that, and we also focused on setting up the car for the race. We went for a balance with relatively low downforce for the race — since our top speed wasn’t outstanding — but still enough downforce to fight for pole position. And Max executed that brilliantly. In the last sector, he delivered again and found another tenth — which, nowadays, is a huge advantage.”

Photos from Italian GP – Practice & Qualifying