A filmmaker with a soft spot for Ronnie Peterson, Gilles Villeneuve, Mika Hakkinen and above all, Tazio Nuvolari and Ayrton Senna, is also a diehard Formula One fan since the age of 4 (mid-90's). An avid researcher of the past of Grand Prix Racing since before it was even named F1, and with a thirst for knowledge of the ins and outs of the actuality of the sport, as well as for the technical aspects that define it, is a member of GPblog since 2023, where he has put his love of racing to good use.
Following a tough ask of Max Verstappen by Red Bull in the highly contended start of the race in Monza, Mekies feared the race could slip away.
At lights out, Verstappen protected his position from Norris' attack, with the Briton going two wheels on the grass nearing the end of the main straight.
As the two rivals readied themsleves to enter the first chiucane, an ever narrowing part of the track which always sees drivers go off at the start of the race, the McLaren driver stayed firm on the inside, with the Red Bull contender keeping to the outside line.
Unable to keep his car on track, Verstappen cut the first chicane and retained the lead.
Earlier in the year in Saudi Arabia, Red Bull experienced a similar situation with Verstappen cutting the first corner and keeping the lead ahead of Oscar Pastri. The Milton Keynes-based team then opted to let their driver keep track position, which resulted in a time penalty that drew them out of contention for the win.
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With that precedent in mind, Red Bull faced the familiar situation, but this time they decided to address it differently.
Mekies feared race win could be snatched away by McLaren
"I think it's always a case-by-case basis [how you judge race incidents]," Mekies told GPblog after the race. "And the guys on the pit wall did a very good job making their own assumption of the situation."
Max Verstappen
Nevertheless, that very decision, necessary at the time, could also mean potentially giving up a race win particularly due to the uncertainties regarding the race pace, and in this case, McLaren's trend of consistently being even quicker in race trim than they are over a lap.
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"And it's a difficult decision at that moment as you can imagine to ask your driver to give the lead back," Mekies continued. "Especially at this very moment [where] you have no idea [if] you're going to have a pace advantage or not so it may as well be your win [is] getting away from you.
'Unbelievable' Verstappen put Mekies' mind at ease
The difficult decision outlined by the Frenchman was indeed the one that needed to be made, so Red Bull bit the bullet and made the call. Fortunately for them an 'unbelievable' Verstappen was able to get back at Norris on the track shortly after.
"Nonetheless, you should be giving the position back not to risk a penalty. that's What we have done, Max has been unbelievable in being able to attack back and pass him. And as it turned out, it put our mind at ease after a few laps," Mekies concluded.
Verstappen then flew to his third win of the season with an over 19-second lead over Norris at the flag, conquering the Italian Grand Prix for the thrid time in the last four years.
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