Mekies sees Red Bull hitting its targets in Madrid, RB22 not yet in the right window

The Red Bull Racing debrief on Friday afternoon lasted about twenty minutes, in hall two of the IFEMA grounds in Madrid. When Max Verstappen, Liam Lawson, the technical staff, and team boss Laurent Mekies came out, there were relaxed faces all around. Despite Verstappen’s sixth place and Liam Lawson’s tenth, it was a solid day for the team, especially on the long runs.

Of course, Friday is always just Friday, is the common refrain in the Formula 1 paddock. In Madrid that’s truer than ever. It was the first day on a completely new circuit, where teams and drivers were learning by the minute - Red Bull included. The Austrian team had at least hit its targets, team principal Laurent Mekies told GPblog exclusively as he headed along the long path to the Red Bull Energy Station.

“It’s a challenging circuit for everyone, both for the drivers and for the teams,” was his conclusion after a first acquaintance with the Madring. “It's a challenging track for everyone, for the drivers, for the teams. I think we did our program. So from that perspective, we are satisfied. Max and Liam did a good job to keep it on track. And we got the comparison to the car we want.”

Mekies wasn’t suggesting that the right set-up for the RB22 has already been found, just as it likely hasn’t been for their rivals either: “No. I think everybody will scratch their head tonight to try to put their cars in in a better window, but, it's part of their own work,” the Frenchman laughed.

With more rubber laid down on the new asphalt, the track will continue to evolve leading up to qualifying and the Grand Prix. When the drivers head back out for the third free practice on Saturday, conditions will likely be different.

“Absolutely,” Mekies confirmed. “It's already a challenging track as such just because of the layout and the wall and the variety of corners. And then, of course, we have to factor in the evolution for tomorrow. So probably a bit more work, a bit more simulations, a bit more simulator tonight. And as you have seen, despite all these variables, the pack seems to be fairly compact.”

Mekies isn’t looking at the competition for that: “Honestly, we just concentrate on ourself and and try to see how we can get the car in the best possible window tomorrow.”

After one day, Mekies was already convinced that the Grand Prix in Madrid is an asset: “I think it's fantastic. It's super challenging. I think they've done an amazing job both with the facilities and with the layout. Now, whether it will produce overtaking, we will see.”