Laurent Mekies admits there’s one piece of praise he never wants Max Verstappen to hear

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Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has never hidden how much he enjoys working alongside Max Verstappen.

Max Verstappen may be mathematically still in the race for the drivers’ championship, but he now needs three perfect weekends to stand any chance of matching Juan Manuel Fangio’s record of becoming a five-time F1 champion.

The recent turnaround at Red Bull can’t be ignored, and while team principal Laurent Mekies wants to take no credit for their progress, it’s clear that he’s had an immediate impact since replacing Christian Horner.

Verstappen has disagreed with Mekies’ suggestion that he’s had ‘zero impact’ at Red Bull, with the Frenchman taking far more interest in the team’s progress from a technical point of view.

There’s also been a shift within the team that has seen Verstappen’s feedback taken more seriously, and Mekies has now shared another piece of praise for the 28-year-old that he doesn’t want getting back to the Dutchman.

READ MORE: Red Bull driver Max Verstappen’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

Laurent Mekies admits that Max Verstappen is the ‘best sensor’ on the Red Bull car

Mekies was being interviewed on the Talking Bull Podcast and asked about working alongside Verstappen.

He said: “The simple, plain truth is that then you get the luck to work with him. And the guy is even more extraordinary out of the car than he is in the car.

“It looks stupid to say, but that’s what it is. You discover the level of his technical sensitivity.

“We call him the best sensor in the car, but don’t tell him! But he really is the best sensor in the car.

“The level of commitment, the level of energy he puts into it, how he’s immersed in the world of motorsport, also beyond Formula 1.

“He’s racing elsewhere. If he’s not racing elsewhere on his free weekends, he’s doing sim racing days or nights or both.

“So that’s what it is. You call him on Monday after a race and say, ‘So, how are you? You are resting somewhere?’ And he came back and says, ‘Yeah, well, no, I’m racing right now.’

“So, he’s sim racing the next day after a race, like it’s unbelievable.”

READ MORE: All you need to know about Red Bull team principal and CEO Laurent Mekies

Max Verstappen needs more support from his Red Bull teammate to win the 2026 title

If Verstappen can overturn a 49-point deficit to Lando Norris by the time the chequered flag flies in Abu Dhabi, it will be one of the greatest comebacks in F1 history.

He’s done brilliantly in the second half of the season to keep himself in contention, considering that the gap to the top of the standings stood at over 100 points at one point during the campaign.

What’s become clear is that Red Bull can no longer count on Verstappen alone if they want to be in contention to win both championships.

Yuki Tsunoda has struggled since his Red Bull promotion, and even when he was being used as a guinea pig to help the team decide how to set up Verstappen’s car in Brazil, he didn’t prove to be very useful.

Isack Hadjar is expected to be Verstappen’s teammate in 2026, but that’s placing a lot of pressure on a driver who has started 20 Grand Prix in his career thus far.

Mekies’ most powerful weapon is Verstappen, as he’s now admitted, but he needs to find a way to shift some of the responsibility onto the other side of the garage.