Red Bull always ready to "take risks" and override Max Verstappen on F1 car set-up

Laurent Mekies says the Red Bull Formula 1 team is always ready to “take risks” with car set-ups, even if that clashes with Max Verstappen’s preferences.

The Dutchman made it clear over the Canadian Grand Prix weekend that the team had tried things that he didn’t like and that didn’t work.

Max Verstappen was happier after Sunday’s race, in which he finished third after losing second place to Lewis Hamilton in the closing stages.

Mekies stressed that the team’s philosophy has always been to push the limits as it tried to maximise the potential of the car.

“As soon as we are in a situation where we don't feel Max and Isack [Hadjar] are not at ease to push, we take risk,” he said.

“That's what we've done last year. That's what this team has been doing for a number of years, that's what we've done this weekend. As soon as we are there, we are going to try things.

“It's only the beginning of the year, it's the beginning of this generation of cars.

“We are going to try things with our drivers to unlock something, even if it costs us something.

“And you learn, you learn for the quali condition, you learn for the race condition. So a lot of learning this weekend. How far are we from the ultimate potential of the car here? Nobody really knows.

He added: "We take risks every time we don't feel we are at the right balance, or the right gap to competition, and when you do take risks like that, you do explore set-up directions with both cars.

“We are lucky enough to have two drivers that we are in the right rhythm this weekend, so we could explore with Max and with Isack, and that's what we have done.

“And then we improve our understanding of the car, what is working, what's not working, what is bringing something for quali, what is bringing something for the race. That's the beauty of park ferme as well.”

Approach hasn't changed, despite Verstappen frustrations

Mekies insisted there was no change of approach in Montreal, despite Verstappen’s frustration with a set-up direction he didn’t like becoming public on Saturday.

“Absolutely not,” he said. “As much as it may have felt different.

“The reality is that our drivers are completely integrated in the choices we make. It doesn't mean that we don't have our own little game at saying what do you think, and what do you think?

“But in the end of the day, we agree on what to try, and then after sometimes there is a bit of, ‘I told you,’ but we still learn together.

“And what is clear is that both sides are very conscious that you need that dynamic and you need that ‘I told you’ feeling sometimes in order to progress.”

The podium in Montreal was the first for Red Bull in 2026 and the first of its Ford partnership, and Mekies said that it showed that the team is making progress with recent upgrades.

“Big picture, I see at the very least we confirmed the Miami steps,” he said.

“I think we've done a bit more than the Miami step in the way that I think we have managed to take another bit of performance away from the top guys.

“Just looking at the at the lap time now, it was it was three-tenths yesterday in quali, but I think today we were a bit closer than the half a second deficit that we had in Miami.

“In Miami we finished 40 seconds from the win, so I think was a bit closer here now.

“There are probably no reasons to get too excited in a way that you could also have a track layout effect.

“It's a track that could be forgiving for certain aspects of the car, but I think at the very least, again, we confirmed Miami.

“I think the guys managed to get something more, and if you consider that competition had another flow of updates this weekend, I think it's just confirming that we are going in the right direction.”