Laurent Mekies talks about his first months as team principal at Red Bull: Why he didn’t turn everything upside down after Christian Horner’s departure
Seven months ago, the dismissal of Red Bull team boss Christian Horner the day after the British Grand Prix in July came as a surprise to many—not least to his successor Laurent Mekies. Until then, the 48-year-old Frenchman had been happily managing the fortunes of sister team Racing Bulls, where he had formed a strong partnership with managing director Peter Bayer.
But when Red Bull Austria, one of the two most successful Formula 1 teams of the last two decades, comes calling, it’s simply an offer you can’t refuse.
Taking over the management of a 2,000-strong team, which includes both the chassis and engine departments, in the middle of the season is no easy task, even in the best of times. But continuing Horner’s formidable legacy is a whole different ball game – and Mekies accepted the challenge with patience and humility.
“In the early days, I kept telling myself: take your time before forming an opinion,” Mekies told Motorsport.com Italy during pre-season testing in Bahrain. “Not just about the people, but also about the way things are done here. I knew that the picture would become clearer after a few months, and that’s exactly what happened.”
Mekies did not come to change the DNA
“Every day you feel a little more in control, simply because you know the people better and understand the dynamics a little more. As I said, I set myself the goal of understanding the reality of Red Bull without looking at it through the filter of my past experiences, and tried to open my perspective as much as possible,” he says.
His verdict: “The team was fantastic. They had all gone through an epoch-making change, and yet I was welcomed in an incredible way.”
“After a few months, I realized that my job was certainly not to change the foundations of the team, but to protect its competitive DNA: here, everything is done to make the car faster. The rest is hardly important.”
Speaking of experience, Mekies has an impressive resume, including stints at Minardi, Toro Rosso, the FIA, and Ferrari before returning to Faenza.
Team fought for the 2025 championship
What he found in Milton Keynes was a team that, from the outside, seemed to be in a state of shock—it was struggling to get its performance problems under control, while speculation was rife about its star driver Max Verstappen and his future with the team.
With the upcoming rule change for 2026, including the challenge Mekies previously described as “insane” of Red Bull producing its own power units, the temptation must have been great to write off 2025 and focus fully on the new era.
“It would have been easy to say, ‘Let’s focus on 2026,’” Mekies nods. “All the conditions were in place to turn the page and start from scratch. New regulations, the first in-house engine, a new team principal, and further changes at the top.”
