Max Verstappen highlights Red Bull change after 'not in control' revelation

Max Verstappen has explained how Laurent Mekies "asking the right questions" at Red Bull has helped prevent the team from "just shooting left and right" in pursuit of the correct set-up. The four-time F1 drivers' champion conceded that before the Frenchman joined from Racing Bulls, the Milton Keynes-based squad did not have a full appreciation of what it needed to do to get the most from the troublesome RB21. Two rounds into Mekies' tenure, the 27-year-old remarked that he would not win another grand prix all season, such was the disappointing performance the six-time constructors' champions endured at the Hungaroring, the final round of the campaign before the summer break. However, two rounds later, at the Italian Grand Prix, Verstappen returned to the top step of the podium for his third victory of the year. Red Bull made a breakthrough with its set-up at Monza, with Mekies having lessened the team's reliance on simulations to provide a baseline to build from - part of what had been producing its underwhelming performances in practice on Fridays. This, coupled with a floor upgrade that quickly proved a more significant - and wide-ranging - improvement than expected, vaulted Verstappen into contention at the Temple of Speed. He secured pole position in qualifying, setting the quickest lap in F1 history, and won the following day in just over 73 minutes - the fastest grand prix in the championship's history. Reflecting on Mekies' impact, a mere two months after taking over from Christian Horner, Verstappen outlined how Red Bull was struggling before his arrival. "Up until now, we've had a lot of races where we were just shooting left and right a little bit with the set-up of the car," the Dutchman told media, including RacingNews365 . "Quite extreme changes, which show that we were not in control. We were not fully understanding what to do." Verstappen highlighted that having the more technically-minded Mekies at the helm was already paying dividends, with his notably different skill set from Horner's. "With Laurent having an engineering background, he's asking the right questions to the engineers – common-sense questions – so I think that works really well," the 66-time grand prix winner added. "Plus, you try to understand from the things that you have tried, that at one point, some things give you a bit of an idea of a direction, and that's what we kept on working on. "I definitely felt that in Zandvoort, already we took a step that seemed to work quite well, and then [at Monza] another step which felt again a little bit better."