Laurent Mekies makes declaration of defiance despite daunting Red Bull test

Laurent Mekies has confessed Red Bull will likely struggle at the Belgian Grand Prix, with Spa-Francorchamps anticipated to pose a similar test to the high-speed challenge of Silverstone.

The Milton Keynes-based team has been unable to find consistency with the RB22, and an otherwise underwhelming campaign has been punctuated only by Max Verstappen's podiums in Montreal and Spielberg.

Despite its fledgling internal combustion engine being determined the benchmark by the FIA for the motorsport governing body's ADUO (Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities) programme, Red Bull's power unit has fallen short in the energy management battle and its chassis has proven unable to compete with the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari, particularly in high-speed.

With the paddock leaving Silverstone for another similar encounter in the Ardennes Forest, Mekies dampened expectations of a return to form.

"It's a good representation of the complexity of where we are with these cars," the Red Bull team principal told media, including RacingNews365.

"[In Austria], we are fighting for the win, and pretty much a few days later, at Silverstone, we were hitting some pretty strong limitations that stopped us from extracting everything we could out of our package.

"Yes, we think it's compounded at a track like Silverstone, where it is energy-starving; we seem to be struggling more.

"So, on tracks where energy limitations are strong, we seem to be struggling more compared to the competition, and in that respect, I'm afraid Spa-Francorchamps is probably in that category as well."

A message of defiance

However, Mekies showed his fighting spirit, voicing his faith in those working under him at the six-time constructors' champions.

The Frenchman insisted the team will find solutions to the problems it faces, and remains hopeful of a strong weekend at the Hungarian Grand Prix the following week.

"It doesn't mean that we give up and we turn the page," he added. "It means that we will need knowledge to improve on that; it's about improving at 360 degrees, that's what we try to do every day.

"So, we'll need to use this weekend to make a small step forward at these sorts of tracks — I hope — for Spa-Francorchamps, and I trust that... again the team is learning very quickly.

"It is still the first year with our own power unit, and we are going to get around this sort of energy-starving track.

"There may be hardware limitations, but I equally know that the team is extraordinary at learning fast, so I hope we can be in a slightly better shape at Spa-Francorchamps.

"But you are right in saying that from a characteristic perspective it should be quite similar to Silverstone, and then hopefully Budapest is a different picture."