Mekies names 'important area' to work on after tough race for Red Bull in Japan Red Bull look to have slipped back from the front runners – but what can they do about the situation? Laurent Mekies watched his Red Bull team score just four points in Japan on Sunday, with Max Verstappen finishing eighth and Isack Hadjar outside the top 10 in P12. The team have a best finish of sixth so far this season, achieved in Australia – not the return they hoped for from the first three races of the year. Hadjar called Red Bull the “fourth or fifth” fastest team prior to any track action at Suzuka and the results back that up, with Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari, along with Pierre Gasly in the Alpine finishing ahead of the Bulls. But with plenty of data to dig into thanks to both cars finishing, Team Principal Mekies was able to take some positives from Japan. “We learned a lot more about where our car’s current limitations are," he explained after the race on Sunday. "It was important for us to get involved in those battles and for both Max and Isack to complete the race distance, so we could continue to gather more data. “Of course, we have a lot of work to do and we now have a few weeks to try and find some fixes for those limitations. At the moment, what is important is to work on the performance gap to the guys ahead of us. “There is not just one area we can pinpoint as being the cause of our difficulties and we need to work on all areas. It feels bad now, but I have full confidence in the team.” Red Bull are running their own power unit this season, and there