Red Bull's Priority Is To Retain Verstappen, Says New Team Principal Mekies

New Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies said he is making it his mission to provide Max Verstappen with a competitive car to remove any doubts of seeking a move away.

Verstappen, who is contracted with the team until 2028, has been touted for a switch to rivals Mercedes after an underwhelming run of results since the middle of 2024. 

While the Dutchman stormed to his fourth consecutive world title last year, he won just two of the final 14 races, with McLaren sealing their first constructors' title since 1998. 

Verstappen has been pivotal to Red Bull's recent success, setting the record for the most consecutive victories in 2023, triumphing 10 times in a row between Miami and Italy. 

In that same season, he won 19 of 22 races en route to his third successive drivers' championship, another Formula One record. 

This year, however, he finds himself 69 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri, having claimed just two race wins to the Australian's five. 

And Mekies, who replaced Christian Horner earlier this month following his sacking by Red Bull, laid out his plan to ensure Verstappen remains with the team. 

"I'm sure Max wants a fast car and if we get him a fast car, I'm sure it's cancelling out all the other considerations," Mekies said.

"So really the focus is very much to try to get to know the team as quickly as possible in order to see how we can support, how we can build the next step of competitiveness in order to get a fast car and, hence, to make it an easy call for Max."

Verstappen enjoyed a positive start under Mekies' stewardship, finishing second in Friday's practice session, albeit almost half a second slower than Piastri. 

The reigning world champion then sandwiched himself in between Piastri and Lando Norris in qualifying for Saturday's sprint, a result he believes he can build on. 

"Being P2 between the McLarens is already a good result for us. I do think we maximised that," Verstappen said. 

"I enjoyed it out there. The lap itself was fine, it was good. Of course, the gap is very big, but it's been big already from FP1, so it's not a big surprise.

"We just have to focus on ourselves and work on the balance of the car and try to go faster.

"When you're almost five tenths off, I don't think going faster or slower on the straight is going to matter a lot. We just have to do our own race and see what we can do."