Mekis: Max has always said that he wants to stay with Red Bull.

      The main news of the racing weekend in Zandvoort is the joint statement from Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen that their collaboration will continue until the end of 2030. Naturally, the Dutch driver had much to share, and there were also many questions for Laurent Mekies, the head of his team.

      "I won't be dishonest, this is phenomenally great news for our team!" he shared in an interview with the official championship website. "If you allow me, I believe this is equally wonderful news for Formula 1 and probably for the world of motorsport as a whole.

      We take this very seriously, as we understand that we have a huge responsibility, because we need to create a very fast car and an efficient power unit that will allow Max to bring us back to the top as soon as possible.

      To start a new winning cycle, we first need to understand what the success of Red Bull is based on. Our team is only interested in victories, and Max is also striving only for victories. If we manage to sort out such an important element of these foundations as the drivers, that is already very important – we have just done that. Now we have the best driver in the world, which will help solve several other critically important tasks necessary for success.

      People are always the most important factor. We believe that we have the best specialists working with us, and since everyone has received assurance that Max will stay with the team for so long, this is a kind of clear confirmation of the course that Red Bull has taken.

      Max has always said that he wants to stay with the team. He said this at the very beginning of our negotiations about continuing the collaboration, and when we finally signed everything, he stated: "I told you I always wanted to stay!"

      Of course, the first part of the season, when the new technical regulations came into effect, was not easy; our car was not competitive. But this is partly due to the fact that last year we fought for the title until the very last moment, so we were somewhat disappointed, as we are all united by one desire – the desire for victories.

      Every time we miss a victory, we try to be completely honest with each other and do not hide our feelings because we are driven by the thirst for success."

      But continuing the collaboration with Verstappen is not the only news that Laurent Mekies has to comment on this weekend. There has been a forced change in his team, and Isaac Hadjar's car, who recently suffered a wrist injury, will be driven by Liam Lawson in Zandvoort.

      "Isaac is fine," Mekies assured. "During the summer break, he sustained a minor injury during practice, but he should be back on track by Friday. We have no reason to put him at any risk; he had a great start to the season, driving more confidently with each stage, with each session, and this weekend we will give him the opportunity to focus on his recovery. I hope he will be back behind the wheel very soon.

      But we will be able to work with Liam again, and that’s great! He handled his tasks very well in the first half of the season, knows the characteristics of these generation cars very well, so everything is coming together perfectly. I believe he deserves this chance.

      But Yuki Tsunoda will also have the opportunity to get back behind the wheel; he deserves it too, as he has been patiently working on the simulator all year, and his return can also be considered a nice story that will happen this weekend."