Paddock Briefing: Verstappen warms to Mekies, Petronas boss apologises, Ferrari calms Hamilton fears, FIA status quo looms
Red Bull is a different beast these days, and Max Verstappen isn’t fighting it. The triple World Champion says he’s clicking with new team boss Laurent Mekies, praising a straight-shooting style that “fits” how he likes to work. There’s a different strategy in play with Mekies steering the ship now, Verstappen admits, but no one’s erasing the past. The Dutchman still talks about the Christian Horner era with clear fondness — memories of that first title in 2021 still doing laps in the back of his mind.
The mood music at Milton Keynes has changed since summer and, on track, so has the momentum. Verstappen has been steadily clawing back ground on McLaren over the last run of races, yet he’s keeping the lid firmly on any title talk. In Singapore, he felt Lando Norris had the outright pace advantage; the layout did him a few favours in keeping the papaya car parked behind. Pragmatic as ever, Verstappen’s read is simple: the speed is there in patches, but it has to be there everywhere if he’s going to make this a late-season heist. No bold predictions, just the familiar focus on execution.
Over at Mercedes, a different storyline spilled beyond the podium. Petronas CEO and president Tengku Muhammad Taufik apologised after drawing criticism back home for taking part in the customary champagne spray during the Singapore celebrations. He’d been the team’s representative on the rostrum to collect the Constructors’ trophy following George Russell’s assured victory under the lights. Culture and optics often collide in Formula 1’s traveling circus, and this was one of those moments — handled quickly, with an apology and a return to the day job. For Mercedes and Petronas, the partnership and the hardware remain the headlines.
Ferrari, meanwhile, spent the early part of the week batting away safety whispers after Lewis Hamilton’s late-race brake drama at Marina Bay. Team principal Fred Vasseur was unequivocal: the SF-25 was not in an unsafe condition and the instructions to back off did their job. Hamilton had gone aggressive on strategy — one of only a handful to try a two-stopper — as he chased down Kimi Antonelli for sixth in the final stint. The hunt didn’t quite pay, the radio got spicy, and the suspicion grew. Vasseur’s line was firm: protocols were followed, the car was safe, and the chequered flag told the rest of the story.
All of this swirls around a championship that’s refusing to settle. McLaren’s young axis has thrown haymakers all year, Mercedes has rediscovered some bite, and Red Bull — reshaped and still refining — has a familiar talisman finding ways to score big on “off” days. Verstappen’s conservatism about his chances isn’t theatre; it’s informed by a season that’s left no margin for puffed chests. The next tracks will decide if his recent form was a tease or the start of something more serious.
Outside the garages, the sport’s governance looks set for continuity. Mohammed Ben Sulayem is poised to be confirmed for a second term as FIA president in December, effectively running unopposed. It’s a tidy, if unsurprising, endgame to a year in which rulemaking and refereeing were never far from the conversation. An uncontested ballot won’t silence every critic, but it does extend the current direction of travel through the next cycle.
Back to the racing: Red Bull’s evolving dynamic is the paddock’s quiet intrigue. Mekies brings a different cadence to decision-making, and Verstappen, rarely one for politics, seems energised by the clarity. He doesn’t need to be nostalgic to recognise that titles are built on steady structures — he lived it through the Horner years — but he also doesn’t need the past to power the present. If the car keeps edging forward and the calls stay sharp, he won’t need to talk up his chances. He’ll just keep taking them.
Mercedes will hope Singapore wasn’t a one-off spike; Ferrari will be keen to turn Hamilton’s late-race tension into early-race performance; McLaren, for all its swagger this year, knows the hunters are closing. And Verstappen? He’ll probably keep downplaying it. That’s usually when he’s most dangerous.
