Purple Bull’s lead driver Max Verstappen has struggled to compete with the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris on a constant foundation this 12 months, however the circuits the place he has been capable of are quick and flowing – precisely like Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps.
Verstappen, in any case, was on pole at high-speed Silverstone three weeks in the past, just for his race to return unstuck within the moist as a consequence of the low-downforce set-up Purple Bull selected.
Spa is legendary for its lengthy, demanding, quick corners, similar to Suzuka, the place Verstappen gained from pole. It might be no shock to see him repeat that feat this weekend.
Whereas that might be a pleasant fillip for the brand new Mekies-led Purple Bull, it could not be a sign that their issues have been behind them.
The group’s struggles this 12 months have been central within the mixture of points that led to Horner’s departure. The shareholders – drained, too, of Horner’s calls for to be in whole management of every little thing whereas the group seemed to be fracturing round him – felt one thing wanted to be carried out.
However that is nonetheless the core of the group that two years in the past produced probably the most dominant season in F1 historical past, and for which final 12 months Verstappen gained seven of the primary 10 races to put the foundations for his fourth world title.
So it was no shock to listen to Mekies pledging, in a video distributed by Purple Bull, to get one of the best out of what he describes as “this unbelievable group”.
As somebody who has been in F1 for greater than 20 years, and who has labored at governing physique the FIA and Ferrari along with two stints at Purple Bull’s junior group, Mekies already is aware of effectively a number of key folks at Purple Bull, reminiscent of technical director Pierre Wache and head of engineering Paul Monaghan.
