Verstappen sits 147 points behind Kimi Antonelli in the standings after finishing second at the Spanish Grand Prix, and the Dutchman has told reporters he is not planning any late-season revival.

“I’m definitely not having a comeback,” Verstappen said.

His own diagnosis has now been publicly backed by his team. Mekies confirmed to reporters in the paddock that the RB22 bleeds lap time in a way that has plagued Verstappen all season and cannot be quickly designed out.

“There is an element of car performance degradation that is happening through a session, through a race,” Mekies told GPblog and other outlets.

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“He is right in saying it is not a new issue. We are not sleeping on it. I consider it a complex issue, otherwise, we would have got to the bottom of it.”

‘Through pain’ progress in Madrid

Mekies did credit the team with a small step forward at the Spanish round, where Verstappen came home behind Antonelli.

“We had a couple of positive steps in that regard [in Madrid]. It will never be the full picture, but we certainly have, through pain, made progress,” he said.

The team boss also said Red Bull had attacked the problem from several angles without finding a full answer.

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“It will not be fast. It’s something that probably will take us through next year.”

147 points and running out of races

Antonelli leads the drivers’ standings on 292 points, 81 clear of Mercedes teammate George Russell and 147 ahead of Verstappen, who sits sixth on 145. With nine grands prix and one sprint left on the calendar, the ceiling on remaining points is well short of what Verstappen would need to overhaul the Italian.

On the size of the lap-time gap, Mekies was blunt:

“It’s serious lap time. There is no doubt that we have everyone trying to improve that.”

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Baku next, on a Saturday

The next round is the Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the Baku City Circuit, and the schedule is unusual: because 27 September is Azerbaijan’s Remembrance Day, the race has been moved to Saturday.

Qualifying is on Friday 25 September at 4pm local time, with lights out at 3pm local time on Saturday 26 September.

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