What made Red Bull team boss Laurent Mekies delighted at the Belgian Grand Prix?

Red Bull Team Principal Laurent Mekies hailed Isack Hadjar's Belgian Grand Prix as his finest performance for the team after the Frenchman stormed from 21st on the grid to finish sixth at Spa-Francorchamps.

Hadjar started from the back of the field after power unit penalties but produced one of the standout drives of the race. Red Bull adopted an aggressive strategy, making use of the early Safety Car periods to cycle through the tyre compounds before attempting to complete the race on hard tyres.

Although a late third stop became necessary, Hadjar remained in the fight and successfully held off Lando Norris to secure an impressive sixth-place finish.

Reflecting on the weekend, Mekies praised the performances of both Red Bull drivers, claiming that it was "a strong weekend for the whole Team."

The Frenchman was particularly pleased that the team's pace had translated into a strong race result after qualifying.

"It was good to be in the top three in Qualifying, but it's even better to be here on race day and have the pace."

While acknowledging that race winner Andrea Kimi Antonelli was beyond Red Bull's reach, Mekies felt Max Verstappen had been firmly in contention for second place before the Virtual Safety Car changed the complexion of the race.

"As we said yesterday, Kimi was probably beyond us today, but behind him Max was right there. He was running well for P2 on merit, then the VSC happened and that cost us. But that's part of the game."

Verstappen eventually finished third, securing Red Bull's 300th Formula 1 podium and the 130th podium of his own career. On the other hand, Mekies reserved special praise for Hadjar, describing the rookie's recovery drive as another significant step in his development.

"We are happy about our 300th podium, as well as Max's 130th podium. Isack also showed extremely strong pace, coming through from 21st on the grid to take P6 at the flag."

The Red Bull team boss believes it was Hadjar's strongest performance since joining the senior team. Mekies added that the Frenchman continues to improve with every race weekend.

"It was certainly his best race with us. It seems like every time he takes another step forward. It's great to have two very strong cars," he continued.

Looking beyond Spa, Mekies highlighted the work taking place behind the scenes as Red Bull continues its pursuit of Mercedes and Ferrari.

"The Team back in Milton Keynes and at the track is working incredibly hard on all fronts to bring and unlock more performance and we were able to fight for the podium in the last three races."

Despite another podium for Verstappen and a superb recovery drive from Hadjar, Mekies insisted the team remains focused on returning to winning ways.

"We won't stop until we find those final few tenths needed to get back to winning races," Mekies concluded.