'As sensational as last year' – Mekies reflects on Verstappen's charge to P3 in Sao Paulo GP

Red Bull Team Principal Laurent Mekies believes Max Verstappen's charge to third in Sunday's Sao Paulo Grand Prix was "as sensational as last year" when he claimed victory.

Verstappen endured a rollercoaster weekend in Brazil, with the four-time World Champion failing to progress beyond Q1 on pure pace for the first time in his Formula 1 career.

Red Bull decided to make significant changes overnight, including suspension modifications and a new power unit, which forced the Dutchman to start from the pits in Sunday's 71-lap race.

A puncture during a Virtual Safety Car period forced Verstappen to pit after just seven laps, but thereafter, the 28-year-old put in a stunning performance to finish on the gearbox of Kimi Antonelli in second and just 10 seconds behind race winner, Lando Norris.

"Credit to Max for the sensational drive," said Mekies. "He won last year here from P17 on the wet, and I think we would probably agree that it was as sensational as last year to bring it to P3 from the pit lane on a dry, relatively uneventful race.

"The simple truth is that we were not happy with where the car was in terms of car balance and driver's feeling after the Sprint race.

"We had finished P4 [in the Sprint], but it was effectively a P5 without Oscar [Piastri's] stoppage, and nobody wanted to settle for a car that would have been at that level.

"We felt the optimum [set-up] windows were not where we were. We tried our only car at that moment to change it before the main Qualifying. We obviously got it wrong, but it's the way we go racing.

"We take risks, and if we don't take that amount of risks, we don't think we'll be able to win. So we took that risk. It didn't work.

"It's painful. We got the Quali wrong, and that's what it is. But again, we have taken a lot of these risks in the past few months. I insist it is the way this team goes racing. That's the spirit in our current racing. We had our highs and lows.

"The car was alive today. That's the most important thing. The car was probably good enough to fight for the win today."

Verstappen now sits 49 points behind Drivers' Championship leader Norris with three Grands Prix and one Sprint remaining, with Mekies suggesting that the team is taking everything race-by-race rather than focusing on a fifth back-to-back title for the Dutchman.

"The simple truth is, the focus is how can we maximise our chance to get the car in the 'alive' window for Las Vegas. The rest is a consequence," he added.

"So, nobody is thinking about either championship; we are just thinking about what do we do with the Las Vegas constraints.

"We know it's very different, very, very low downforce, extremely cold windows for the tyres. How do we get the car to perform there, and then the rest is a consequence."