Hadjar proves second Red Bull car is no longer a weakness - Mekies

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies believes Isack Hadjar’s peformances and results show the team is successfully addressing a past weakness with its second car.

Hadjar was promoted after just one year at Racing Bulls to partner Max Verstappen this year, following a high turnover that saw Sergio Perez, Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda occupy that seat over the previous 14 months. Mekies said there were a number of areas he wanted to address after taking over as team principal last year, and praises Hadjar’s role in strengthening the results from the second car.

“On our shopping list, as Oracle Red Bull Racing, we had obviously the power unit, we had getting back to competitiveness as soon as possible, but we also had, ‘we need to sort out the second car’,” Mekies told RACER.

“And we are conscious that we may not have done things perfectly in the past. And it was absolutely a high priority, making sure we don't miss the trick with Isack.

“Don't get me wrong, the credit needs to go to Isack. He arrived in the UK a few days after he signed with us at the beginning of the year. He's coming to the factory every other week or every other day. If it's not the simulator, it's with his engineers.

“He has been taking an approach where he has his feet on the ground, his head's down, he just wants to learn every day from the team, from Max. And he's getting better every single time he takes the car out.

“That's what we see, a tiny bit better every single time he gets the car out. And sometimes you see it, sometimes you don't see it because of the weekend circumstances, but that's the reality of it.”

Mekies said that being able to get more consistent performances across both cars allows Red Bull to operate more strongly as a team overall.

“It's fantastic news for the team. It is what we need," he said.

“And it helps also in terms of team cohesion and getting everyone united together because we have two cars, and we can play with the two cars – as we've done in Spa, for example, in qualifying. But not only that, it helps when you have to share the set-up items, it helps when you have to share the tire test or whatever.

“So it's only the beginning. He knows there is a lot more to be unlocked and that's the exciting part. But for sure, the trajectory is the best one we have had on that second car for a long time.”