Verstappen retired in the closing stages at Silverstone after spinning into the gravel at Stowe, the second time in as many race weekends he had been caught out by a rear wing issue in a high-speed corner.
The Dutchman also crashed during qualifying at the Austrian Grand Prix the week prior, with both incidents linked to the rear wing not returning as intended after running in straight-line mode.
While Red Bull said the causes were different, the outcome was another violent snap away from Verstappen, who was left furious after losing what had been a possible podium finish.
“When the rear wing doesn’t close fully, you lose a lot of downforce and you spin off the track,” Verstappen said afterwards.
“So, yeah. One time, okay, but two times… This is becoming dangerous for myself. And obviously, I don’t want that.”
Mekies accepted Verstappen’s anger and said the team had to take full responsibility for ensuring there was no repeat.
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“Look, he’s right not to be happy,” Mekies said after the race.
“It is very unpleasant for drivers to be let down by the car in high-speed corners in two consecutive races, let it be for two different reasons.
“And it is, in a much lower scale, also extremely unpleasant for us as a group to send our drivers to the gravel trap.
“So he’s right to be unhappy. I have no doubt that, as a team, we will put in place what is necessary for that not to happen again, even if we failed to do that today.
“And we take that as seriously as one can do, and therefore the minimum that Max can feel today is being unhappy.”
Red Bull had already analysed the Austria problem before arriving at Silverstone, but Mekies said the early signs pointed to a separate failure behind Verstappen’s latest retirement.
“We certainly understand what happened at the Red Bull Ring,” Mekies explained.
“We are not going to go into the details, because I don’t think it will be right. But we understand the failure, yes.
“From the early analysis of today, we have suffered a different type of failure. It doesn’t make it better, but it is clear that, in front of the succession of events, whether or not the failure is different, that doesn’t really matter.
“We are going to review the full area to make sure we leave zero chance for that to happen again.”
The incidents have placed further scrutiny on Red Bull’s rear wing concept, which has been used since Miami and features an upper element that rotates as part of the active aero system.
The design has been compared to the so-called ‘Macarena’ wing also used by Ferrari, although Red Bull has not yet concluded whether the concept itself was responsible for Verstappen’s latest issue.
Mekies said the team would consider every option before F1 returns at Spa, a circuit where rear wing reliability will again be under pressure because of the high-speed nature of the lap.
“We will do whatever is necessary to be on the safe side,” Mekies said.
“We have raced quite a few races with that concept – we have raced it since Miami, I think. So it’s been a number of races.
“It’s too early in the analysis to establish whether it’s an issue with the concept, or something else.
“But we are going for sure to leave no stone unturned when it comes to it, and we have all the options open.”
The Belgian Grand Prix takes place from July 17-19.


























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