For Racing Bulls team principal Laurent Mekies, working with the drivers, he claims, is “the most beautiful part” of his job.

Mekies took up his current role just over a year ago following a spell of more than five years with Ferrari where he rose to the position of deputy team principal and racing director.

Last year proved to be a challenging one for Mekies, not least as the hoped-for aim of finishing sixth in the constructors’ standings melted away over the final few races.

Prior to that, the Frenchman had to make the difficult call, following conversations with Red Bull team principal Christian Horner and advisor Helmut Marko, to release Daniel Ricciardo.

Ricciardo’s own stated ambitions of wanting to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull for this coming season fell apart as the results and performances required were too few and far between.

The decision was made ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, although an official announcement was not made until a few days after, depriving the highly likeable Australian of a fanfare farewell deserving of his status as a personality of the sport.

Ricciardo’s exit resulted in Liam Lawson being promoted from his role as reserve, and ultimately as the driver to replace Perez, whose departure was confirmed in the middle of December.

In conversation with RacingNews365, Mekies was asked whether the management of the drivers was the biggest challenge he faced throughout his first year in charge.

“I would not say one of the most difficult, although it’s probably the most visible for you guys [the media],” said Mekies.

“The role is about putting your people in the right condition to perform, and honestly, it’s no different when you consider the drivers, or when you consider anybody else in the company.

“It’s just that everybody has a different equation to perform in their sweet spot, and it’s your job to try to ensure they can do that.

“So yes, it is a challenge, but if I may say, it’s probably the most beautiful part of the job.

“It doesn’t come with a lot of hoohah but it comes with a lot of trust building, which is probably the best feeling you can have.

“If you build the trust, they will be open to you, and you will listen to what they have to tell you. Only then, after these two phases, can you eventually start to have a positive effect.”

Mekies maintains he built that trust with Ricciardo over the nine months they worked together.

Ricciardo, however, struggled to extract the required performance of the car, at least not consistently enough, in contrast to team-mate Yuki Tsuonda.

The Japanese driver was awarded a new one-year deal before the midway point of the campaign, leaving Ricciardo vulnerable as he knew he was in a do-or-die situation.

Mekies concedes the conversations he had with Ricciardo over time were ‘not beautiful’, although were naturally necessary, citing the fact that “the worst thing is not to tell the people what you think or what is happening”.

He added: “If you have that exchange, that trust, that intensity of conversations, then things are different.

“So, of course, it was super hard, emotionally, to let Daniel go. As a person, he is an incredible individual, and incredible with capital letters.

“If the guy you have in front of you is an incredible individual, and it’s an asset for a team to have somebody like that, and we are living and dying by our results, we know what the game is.”

Mekies is honourable enough to concede that the issues were not all of Ricciardo’s own making.

“Don’t get me wrong, with him being unable to perform consistently, at the ultimate speed we wanted, there was a big responsibility on ourselves,” said Mekies.

“It’s not just the driver that has to find the sweet spot, it’s the drivers and the teams. We found it sometimes, which was great, saying, yes, the ultimate speed was still there, but we also knew we did not do that consistently enough and often enough.

“You know, the drivers are harder on themselves than anybody around them, including the team principal or the media. It is what it is.

“I am in a lucky position to still have an incredible relationship with Daniel. Every day it was an honour to work with him, including when it had to be the end.”