Under Laurent Mekies’ leadership, RB F1 embarks on a transformative journey, aiming for top-tier competitiveness and innovation.
Laurent Mekies, the new director of RB F1, is delighted with the progress his team has made since moving on from its previous identity as AlphaTauri. The Frenchman detailed the behind-the-scenes efforts currently shaping the team’s future.
“It’s quite a unique, quite extraordinary situation as we’re starting a new project,” Mekies stated. “It’s been a very short time, just five or six weeks, so it’s all new. What we’re doing with the team is figuring out how to achieve the desired level of competitiveness and identifying what needs to be strengthened to reach the top of the field.”
RB F1 Aims for Frontline Competitiveness
“We’re conducting audits to determine how to improve the structure, how to inject resources to progress and achieve these goals. There’s no shortcut for this, but we’re taking it very seriously. We’re reinforcing the team’s foundation to have a development pace that helps us compete at the front.”
Returning to Faenza nearly a decade after leaving the team, he assured there are no doubts about the legality of the RB F1, heavily inspired by the Red Bull RB19, as the purchased parts comply with the rest of the customer teams.
“In reality, the regulations are very clear and allow for sharing certain components, like the engine, hybrid system, gearbox, or suspensions. There’s still a lot we need to do ourselves to be competitive, and half of the teams exchange components with others.”
“We’re doing it too, trying to do it wherever it makes sense, but in reality, the real work is to strengthen this team, make it more independent, and achieve its competitiveness goals by bolstering the departments that need it.”
“Strengthening the team’s fundamentals”
Mekies explains that the RB F1 VCARB 01 is a refined evolution of the AlphaTauri AT04: “It’s a starting point. The car here isn’t very different from the one shown in Abu Dhabi last year; we developed very late to gain positions in the championship, and we’re building from that base.”
“We’re in the phase of trying to strengthen the team’s fundamentals, and once this phase is completed, we believe our development capacity will improve. So, we’re in a phase of gathering as solid data as possible to solidify the foundation and build the future we want.”
He praises Daniel Ricciardo’s role, both for his racing knowledge and leadership abilities: “Daniel is an incredible driving force; he brings that winning experience which is crucial in a team with a lot of people.”
“He has that spirit that lets us know what it takes to reach the competitive part of the grid; he drives us, and we want to go there with him. He knows the first part of the year will be a bit more complicated, but that we’re putting everything in place to be serious in our quest to return to the front of the pack.”
RB F1’s New Era: Mekies Spurs Team Revival. RB F1’s New Era: Mekies Spurs Team Revival
- F1 Teams Battle Manhole Issues in Bahrain Testing
- Following us on Facebook and Twitter.
