14/08/2025 07:25
Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has ruled out the
possibility of taking elements from the Racing Bulls car in a bid
to ease the difficulties of the RB21 challenger. Red Bull's car has
proven tricky to handle for much of the current season. While
four-time champion Max Verstappen has been able to generate
performance from the package, the Dutchman has often complained
about the limitations of the car. Yuki Tsunoda has consistently
been unable to stick the car up the pecking order, having taken
over from a struggling Liam Lawson earlier in the campaign. Both
drivers enjoyed greater success at Racing Bulls, a car that is
known to be much kinder to drive. When asked if it could take
elements from its sister team and apply it to the RB21, Mekies told
Sky F1 : "I think the question is fair, but there's a genesis of
the car. "Where the cars are coming from is too different for
anyone to transfer anything from one car to another." All F1 teams
are required to operate independently, and while there are certain
parts that can be bought from rival teams, the regulations state
they must construct critical areas of the cars without influence
from rival squads. However, through images from photographers,
teams are able to attempt to adapt their cars to what they see from
other teams. Mekies acknowledged it is much too late in the season
for Red Bull to try such an approach. "It's what Formula 1 is
today, it's 10 independent teams all coming with their own ideas
about where to develop the car, what difficulties they found along
the way, which development paths they have ended up having due to
that," he said. "And there is nothing you could take from one car
to another. "It's really down to how it was developed from early
on."
