Laurent Mekies admits Liam Lawson’s Red Bull struggles remain a mystery but insists confidence and speed are steadily returning at RB.
Liam Lawson’s return to Racing Bulls hasn’t been as smooth as expected, even though he raced for the team under its former names AlphaTauri and RB F1 in 2023 and 2024.
Team Principal Laurent Mekies explained that part of the challenge came from Lawson switching sides within the garage. Previously, he had worked closely with engineer Pierre Hamelin. Now, he is collaborating with Yuki Tsunoda’s former engineer, Ernesto Derniderio.
“He joked about it” Mekies said with a smile. “He is on the other side of the garage now. He was a bit lost on the first day, but he adapted quickly.”
“We discussed it with him when he came back and we all felt comfortable with this setup. He took over Yuki’s crew and is now working with Yuki’s race engineer.”
Mekies pointed out that Lawson arrived with low confidence, which became the team’s main focus.
“The first step is making him comfortable again in the car. That is where all our attention is.”
“He lost some trust in himself after two very tough races. What matters is putting him back in a place where he feels good enough to push the limits.”
“If we manage that, we know his talent will show again. Speed does not just disappear. It has only been three races so far, but we have already seen strong improvement from Japan to Bahrain.”
“Maybe you cannot see it clearly on the timing sheets yet, but in the data, we can see how he is pushing the car. There is real progress and we believe he will keep building from here.”
When asked about Lawson’s struggles at Red Bull, Mekies admitted he was just as puzzled as everyone else.
“Honestly, I do not know. We were all surprised by how tough it was for him. I am not sure what went wrong.”
“It is easy to underestimate the pressure at the front of the grid when you are not living it. Things can get difficult very quickly.”
“Luckily, we now have the time to rebuild. If we can get him back to feeling confident in the car, the speed he showed last year and two years ago will come back.”
“He knows he has full support from everyone here. Our job is to guide him so he can trust the car again.”
“He is doing a great job in that process. That does not mean we always agree on everything, but he is very open to working in ways that help him regain his feeling for the car.”
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Mekies Admits He Has “No Clue” Why Lawson Struggled at Red Bull
Mekies Admits He Has “No Clue” Why Lawson Struggled at Red Bull
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