Red Bull boss issues defence over 'spicy' team decisions

Laurent Mekies has lauded his Red Bull team for its "spicy" strategy calls during the Hungarian Grand Prix, which helped Max Verstappen clinch second place.

The result equalled the Dutchman's best return of the season so far, and was a third podium finish in the past four rounds as the Milton Keynes-based squad continues to enjoy an uptick in form from its difficult start to the campaign.

Heading into the 70-lap race at the Hungaroring, Mekies felt a trip to the rostrum would be out of sight, with pre-race simulations suggesting Lando Norris and Ferrari would be beyond reach for Verstappen, who lined up fourth following three-place grid drops for Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Antonelli.

However, those forecasts turned out to be conservative, with the RB22 showing better performance despite the four-time F1 drivers' champion's weekend-long dissatisfaction.

"So, in terms of before-the-race predictions, for what it is worth, we felt Lando and the two Ferraris would be out of touch," the Red Bull team principal told media, including RacingNews365.

"That's how we felt, and we felt we could race some Mercedes and probably Oscar [Piastri]. As it turned out, we could race both Ferraris and Lando was out of reach."

Mekies highlighted how the Red Bull pit wall made the difference in Budapest, with multiple offset decisions, including around the Oscar Piastri-induced virtual safety car, attaining the high rewards to the high-risk approach.

"And in terms of the VSC, there have been a number of quite spicy strategic calls made by the guys today, including the one on the VSC; but not only, if you look at the earlier move not to cover Lewis when he pitted early on," the Frenchman pointed out.

"As always, they always get it right. So, very well done to the pit wall and the whole team back home, tyre group, strategy group."

Overall, Mekies was keen to stress how high performance of the entire Red Bull team in recent rounds, hailing various areas of success.

"I think as a whole, race execution has been very, very strong here," the 49-year-old added.

"We suffered at the beginning of the year with our starts. We are now managing to produce decent starts, strong pit stops, and very strong strategy, as always.

"So, certainly very happy with the way the team has been operating in these last few races, as it's been back to the standout it's known for."