In the podcast “The Red Flag”, Günther Steiner praises the work of Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies and highlights the strengths the engineer actually brings to the table
Laurent Mekies has been team principal at Red Bull since July 2025 and, in Günther Steiner’s view, has successfully stabilised the Milton Keynes-based team following a difficult few years. The former Haas team principal shares this view on “The Red Flag” podcast.
“He took over a team that was somewhat out of control,” is his assessment. In mid-2025, the team had to contend with the departure of Christian Horner.
Following years of power struggles within the team and the infamous scandal surrounding the team’s long-serving team principal, Mekies was declared the new head of the project overnight. Prior to that, the engineer had been at the helm of Racing Bulls.
“Good old Laurent has sorted things out really well,” says Steiner, praising the current Red Bull team principal. “Always friendly, always with a smile on his face and always polite.”
Steiner is particularly full of praise for the way he dealt with Max Verstappen. “When Max Verstappen said, ‘That’s unacceptable’, [Mekies] didn’t throw in the towel, but simply carried on.”
Furthermore, Mekies had to contend with a number of departures both before and during his brief tenure. Just at the start of the year, Gianpiero Lambiase, Max Verstappen’s long-standing race engineer, announced his upcoming move to McLaren.
Steiner praises him: Mekies has turned things round
“Some people have left [das Team],” explains Steiner. “Someone even went so far as to say: ‘The team is sliding into irrelevance’, all that sort of thing. And you know what? [Laurent] has turned things round!”
“You have to remember everything Laurent has achieved, and nobody even noticed. Everyone just kept criticising: ‘Oh, Christian [Horner] has gone …’”
“No! [Laurent] joined the team with absolutely no ego and has done a solid, really good job. They’ve now won a truly commanding race – you’ve got to give him credit for that.”
At Sepang, Max Verstappen won the Bahrain Grand Prix, securing his first victory of the season. It is also the first triumph for the team’s in-house brand, Red Bull Powertrains. Since 2026, the Red Bulls have no longer been competing with customer engines, but with their own power unit.
Prior to that, Red Bull had struggled for months with a car whose performance left much to be desired in many respects. Even the previous year, Verstappen had only managed to stay in the fight for the World Championship right up to the final race weekend with great difficulty. In 2026, such flights of fancy were – and remain – unthinkable.
In the podcast, Steiner is explicitly asked where exactly the new team principal’s strengths lie: “He brings a wealth of experience to the table,” is his assessment, “because he has already worked everywhere and keeps a cool head.”
Contract extended until 2031
Mekies can look back on a long career in Formula 1. In the early 2000s, the engineer – then fresh out of university – worked for the engine manufacturer Asiatech. This led to him gaining his first experience as a race engineer at Arrows. Later, Mekies went on to work for Minardi (later Toro Rosso), Ferrari and even the FIA, amongst others.
Steiner continues: “[Laurent] never overreacts. He always finds a way to deal with problems and ignore external distractions. That’s an art in itself, because at some point it really does get on your nerves.”
“Over the years, Laurent has learnt the following: ‘I do my best. I don’t let distractions get to me. I just do my job, and if things go well for me? Great! If not? Well, then we’ll just see what happens.'”
Yesterday, Wednesday, Red Bull announced the extension of his contract until 2031.
