Laurent Mekies expects tough battle in the midfield until Abu Dhabi

Having picked up a championship point in Spa courtesy of Daniel Ricciardo, Visa Cash RB team's team boss Laurent Mekies expects a tough championship battle in the midfield until the season-closing Abu Dhabi race.

The Visa Cash RB outfit endured a difficult time at the Belgian Grand Prix, but Daniel Ricciardo picked up a point for himself and the Faenza-based team. The Australian was the only driver to start on the softs, coming in for his first pit stop early as a result. Pitting early again second time around, that undercut him past some rivals but late on, Ocon was able to get past on tyres that were nine laps younger.

Ricciardo later was promoted to P10 following the disqualification for race-winner George Russell, meaning he did leave Belgium with a point after all.

Commenting on the 44-lap Spa race, Visa Cash RB team boss Laurent Mekies said: “Overall, Daniel, Yuki, and the whole team performed quite strongly this weekend, with another race scoring points thanks to George's last minute penalty. We were P14 with Daniel after lap one, and we made it back to P10, having lost P9 only a couple of laps from the end.

"It was a very tough fight again at the top of that midfield group, and on a very fast track layout like Spa we were again in that fight and that’s a good sign for the rest of the season."

Having served a 60-place grid penalty for exceeding his engine allocation, Yuki Tsunoda started down the back. The Japanese driver was always going to struggle to make much headway given the tight nature of the midfield.

“On Yuki’s side, we knew coming into this race that our work plan would be different to usual, with Yuki having to start from the back. It was a near impossible mission to make it back to the points from there, and it is fair to say that we never quite managed to have a car that felt right for him this weekend.

“From day one, our aim has been to race as credible competitors at the top of the mid-field and this summer break is a logical time to look at where we stand. We enjoyed a very strong first half of the season in which we built up our performance race after race, scoring points at 10 out of 14 races.

Ferrari's former racing director insists that his outfit will fight to maintain the sixth position it currently occupies in the teams' standings.

"We are fighting hard for that P6 in the Constructors’, against very strong competitors, and it’s going to be a tough battle all the way to Abu Dhabi. Our groups in Faenza and in Bicester are getting stronger every day, and we look forward to the next battles.

“We now have a few days’ work either side of the summer break, before tackling the last 10 races in several time zones, all of them back-to-backs or triple-headers. We actually won’t have a standalone race now until Miami at the start of May next year!

"Proof that Formula 1 is enjoying huge worldwide popularity, and we are happy to be part of it. It is certainly a tough schedule, particularly for the mechanics, so the pause is well deserved after everyone has worked so hard to get our new Visa Cash App RB reality off to a really positive start.”