Source: REUTERS/JEAN CARNIEL
[Saba Sports News] Red Bull Racing team principal Laurent Mekies recently revealed that his first task a decade ago when serving as Safety Director at the FIA was triggered by Max Verstappen’s Super Licence, leading to a system reform. At that time, Verstappen, then only 17 years old, was permitted to race, becoming the youngest driver in F1 history. This incident greatly shocked the then FIA President Jean Todt, who even ordered: “This kind of thing must never happen again.” Mekies clarified a long-misunderstood past event during an interview on the Red Bull official podcast: the outside world thought he had helped Verstappen obtain the Super Licence, but the opposite was true. It was 2014, Mekies had just left Toro Rosso and was invited to the FIA headquarters. Just before he took office, the 17-year-old Verstappen had jumped directly from F3 to F1, joining the Toro Rosso F1 team, shocking the entire motorsport world. Todt believed it was absurd and irresponsible in the public’s view that a minor, who couldn’t legally drive a road car, could control an F1 car. Thus, he immediately tasked Mekies with leading a team to redesign the Super Licence acquisition system. Later, the FIA perfected the mechanism, establishing the current points system and age threshold. Now, drivers must be at least 18 years old and earn 40 Super Licence points within three years to qualify for an F1 licence.