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Motorsport

Laurent Mekies: 'Witnessing something extraordinary' as Max Verstappen claws back championship

Max Verstappen Laurent Mekies Red Bull

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies claimed "we are witnessing something quite extraordinary" as Max Verstappen delivered a perfect weekend at the United States Grand Prix.

The Dutchman secured pole position for both the sprint race and grand prix and went on to convert both poles into victories, taking home a total of 33 points.

After a string of strong performances following the summer break, including wins at the Italian and Azerbaijan grands prix, Verstappen is now back in the fight for the drivers' championship.

While Oscar Piastri still leads the championship, a fifth-place finish at the Circuit of The Americas in the grand prix and a DNF in the sprint mean that Verstappen is now just 40 points adrift of the Australian driver.

Lando Norris, who currently sits second in the standings, finished the race in second, closing the gap to his McLaren team-mate to 14 points.

"Max has been driving at an incredible level. We have to probably admit we are witnessing something quite extraordinary and, all together [with the team], it has produced that turnaround," Mekies told Sky Sports F1 after the United States Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing (Photo by: Peter Fox / Getty Images)

"They know what to do. It's a team that loves racing. We go racing taking risks, they have always gone racing taking risks, and the focus and intensity is still on this weekend. On learning whatever we can still learn from this weekend and putting the best car down to Mexico.

"The rest will just be the consequence."

With just five race weekends left in the season, Verstappen is keen to keep the momentum going. "Well done mate, unbelievable weekend. Really good. Thank you everyone and have a good flight back mate," the Red Bull driver said to race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase after the race.

"Well done Max. That was proper domination. What you said, you got everything this weekend," Mekies added over the team radio, to which Verstappen added: "Really happy with that. Let's try and keep this momentum up!"