Verstappen laughs: 'The team can always count on me, no matter who is in charge'

15:11, 26 Jul

Updated: 15:13, 26 Jul

byTim Kraaij

Max Verstappen is pleased with the first impression Laurent Mekies has made as the new team boss of Red Bull Racing. The fact that he gave him his first victory put a smile on the Dutchman's face.

"It’s very difficult to, within two weeks, suddenly say a lot of things need to change out of the blue," Verstappen began at the press conference about the new team boss of Red Bull Racing.

"It’s about starting the relationship and just understanding how everyone is operating. And then at one point, you come to conclusions and maybe you want to change something, and this is something that will happen over the coming weeks, months."

"So, it’s really early days, but so far, he’s very keen and very motivated, and that’s exactly what you want also. I got on very well with him. So, yeah, it’s been a very good start."

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The fact that Verstappen provided Mekies' first victory as a team boss in Formula 1 made Max smile: "The team can always count on me. They will always get my very best, whoever is in charge."

"They know that. I’m never holding back or anything. I’m always trying to give them the best possible result, and that’s also what they pay me for. For sure, it’s positive. We need, of course, positive energy, and that’s a great start for us."

Verstappen is also working with a different race engineer this weekend in Belgium. Gianpiero Lambiase is absent in Belgium due to personal circumstances and is being replaced by Simon Rennie. Verstappen also had high praises for Rennie.

"He has a lot of racing experience already. He’s been part of the team for a very long time. The last few years, not anymore in a race engineer role, but he steps in and he’s immediately on it. So again, very enjoyable to work with Simon."