Purple Bull is flying excessive after Max Verstappen received back-to-back Method 1 races and Yuki Tsunoda picked up his greatest results of the 12 months on the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, however crew boss Laurent Mekies stays cautious of the may of McLaren.
Verstappen registered the best profitable margin of the 12 months along with his 19-second lead over second-placed Lando Norris in Monza, and the Dutchman additional closed the factors hole to the 2 McLaren drivers with one other commanding win in Baku.
Nonetheless, whereas many paddock insiders have claimed this alerts a resurgence from Purple Bull, Mekies isn’t so positive and says the crew remains to be taking issues “race by race”.
“I believe we in all probability really feel in the present day that a few of the good things we have now seen in Monza, we discovered right here once more,” Mekies mentioned following the Azerbaijan GP.
“Actually, within the slow-speed corners of Baku, [and] there are solely slow-speed corners right here, it’s totally low downforce, it labored very nicely for us – which is a distinct equation to Monza, in order that’s the excellent news.”
Laurent Mekies, Purple Bull Racing
Picture by: Kym Illman / Getty Pictures
The unhealthy information, nevertheless, is that the RB21 nonetheless has its weaknesses, which haven’t all been addressed with the rollout of elements like a brand new flooring that Purple Bull used from Monza. The crew stays prone to excessive temperatures and excessive downforce tracks, which means that its present type might not proceed throughout the remaining seven races within the 2025 season – particularly on the subsequent race in Singapore.
“We take the problem of Singapore, it is a observe that is been difficult for the crew for a lot of, a few years,” Mekies added.
“And within the context of what we are attempting to see, it’s totally, essential to see what immediately would not work there anymore.
“Then, after attempting to take it to the following step, you can be again to tracks with medium-speed corners, the place we have been killed by McLaren two races in the past in Zandvoort. The hole was very important. Additionally in Spa – we left Spa pondering that they have been half a second sooner than us, despite the fact that Max received the dash.”
Like many of the grid, Purple Bull has restricted the event of its 2025 equipment to give attention to preparations for F1’s reset in 2026, which implies upgrades can be few and much between for the remaining races.
Purple Bull was “killed by McLaren” at Zandvoort
Picture by: Kym Illman / Getty Pictures
As a substitute, modifications are being made to the best way the crew operates, with a larger emphasis being placed on driver suggestions to arrange its automobiles, and Tsunoda spent intensive time within the simulator following a disastrous Monza race to aim to unlock extra efficiency.
“We don’t suppose, within the crew, that there’s a silver bullet with a single side,” Mekies defined when requested if the modifications had unlocked one thing within the RB21. “We expect there’s a mixture of lots of small particulars which have extracted extra efficiency out of the automobile.
“And naturally, part of that’s the Monza flooring, part of that’s a few of the modifications we have now made. And the extent of that competitiveness, once more, in numerous circumstances, truthfully, we do not know. We’re hopeful, however we’ll quickly discover out.”
Hopeful or not, Mekies stays adamant that his crew doesn’t “even take a look at it from a constructor perspective,” and as an alternative says Purple Bull is dedicated to understanding the troublesome RB21 higher.
If, whereas doing this, it could possibly flip round its outcomes and safe second within the standings, with simply an 18-point hole to second-placed Mercedes, then that’s a cheerful coincidence.
