Red Bull 'nowhere to hide' after Zandvoort step back, Mekies vows regroup

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has called for a 'regroup' after a difficult Dutch Grand Prix, admitting the team had 'nowhere to hide' after a step back over the summer break.

Max Verstappen's race ended on lap one after a scary shunt, from which he walked away unharmed. Before that, he could only manage sixth in the sprint and seventh in qualifying, leaving Red Bull with little to cheer aside from Liam Lawson's strong stand-in display for the injured Isack Hadjar.

Why it matters:

Red Bull's lack of pace at Zandvoort raises fresh concerns about their ability to stay in the constructors' fight. With the Italian Grand Prix just around the corner, the team needs to understand whether they have fallen behind in the development race or if something else is holding them back.

The details:

• Mekies admitted the team made a 'step back' compared to their form before the summer break, citing Budapest, Spa, and Austria as stronger weekends.
• Verstappen's crash prevented Red Bull from seeing his true race pace, which also meant Lawson had no benchmark to measure against.
• Lawson, deputising for the injured Hadjar, produced a solid performance, offering a rare positive for the team.

What's next:

Red Bull have two weeks to find answers before Monza. Mekies says the team will work to determine if the competition has simply done a better job upgrading their cars, or if something has been limiting Red Bull's performance more than it should.

'We'll regroup and fight back in Monza all together,' he said.