Laurent Mekies on Tom Hart’s first weekend as Max Verstappen’s race engineer Mekies even chuckled when discussing the new race engineer’s weekend "I think he did an excellent job, and you can see me smiling... I remember very well what it’s like to handle your first race as a race engineer. On top of that, he happened to get a rather complicated race, though that wasn't his choice." "But joking aside, I really think he did an excellent job. In his first qualifying session and first race, he managed to translate the work of the engineering teams to Max very effectively, and it was, of course, a complex race. We’re perhaps a bit frustrated about finishing third, which is actually a good sign, but I truly believe he performed excellently." "He also received great support from GP in the background. And while I know you can’t build a relationship overnight, I have full confidence that we’ll see him grow into the role and develop that bond with Max." Mekies further emphasized that the rotation between Hart and Lambiase is unrelated to any performance assessment of either individual. "As part of our plan, we’re having Tom and GP rotate through the end of the year. It’s based on a variety of considerations, much like how we rotate drivers during free practice sessions, for example. So, it has nothing to do with an evaluation; it’s simply part of the plan." [racingnews365.nl/red-bull-ve…]