Laurent Mekies: Red Bull “haven’t cracked” Hungarian GP struggles ahead of qualifying

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has addressed Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda’s difficulties in the RB21 during the three practice sessions ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. 

“We’ve been struggling since yesterday,” the new team boss explained to Sky Sports F1 after the final practice session. “It’s been very difficult to put the car in the right window, to give Max and Yuki the right feeling. We’ve now tried a number of things to turn the car around, but I have to say it’s probably the same sort of feeling today, and not finding the grip overall.
 
“So, uncomfortable, but you know, it’s in this sort of situation that you learn something. So we are trying to do quite a few tests to understand where the limitation is, where the track is. But so far, it’s fair to say that we haven’t given our drivers the car they wanted.”

He added that the team had pursued two different setup directions for Verstappen and Tsunoda. While the four-time champion was reporting that the front of his car was a limitation for him today, Tsunoda pointed to issues with the rear.

“We have gone in two different directions, both yesterday and also this morning, to try to understand a bit better. From the first run yesterday, it felt like something was not quite right.
 
“And we have been experimenting, but it’s also fair to say that so far, we haven’t cracked it.”

Verstappen claimed that “nothing really worked” after the first two practice sessions as he struggled to find the pace in the car. “Today was very tough. Just really a low-grip feeling and not really a balance in the car,” he explained to the media.

Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull Racing Team

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images

“It’s difficult to say what is even the exact problem, nothing really worked. It’s something that we have to investigate over night because so far of course it’s not been our weekend.”

The Japanese driver reported similar issues. Verstappen finished FP1 in ninth, FP2 in 14th and FP3 in 12th. Tsunoda finished FP1 in 17th, FP2 in ninth and FP3 in 19th.

The team now has just a couple of hours before qualifying begins at the Hungaroring.

Photos from Hungarian GP – Practice