One Year On: Inside Laurent Mekies’ Red Bull After Horner’s Exit

Laurent Mekies has marked one year as Red Bull team principal since being thrust into the role after Christian Horner's shock dismissal. Pulled across from Racing Bulls with zero preparation time, Mekies explains he never sought to dismantle Horner's legacy but instead focused on empowering talent and stripping away distractions so the team could focus purely on making the car faster.

Why it matters:

Horner's exit ended a two-decade reign and represented one of F1's most seismic leadership changes. Mekies' choice to protect rather than overhaul Red Bull's DNA has stabilized the squad through intense external scrutiny, even as it endures a winless 2026 campaign and the growing pains of its new in-house power unit.

The details:

• Protecting the DNA: Mekies says there was nothing to "unpick" at Red Bull. He quickly found ample raw talent and no need for fundamental restructuring, choosing instead to increase empowerment and reduce factory-floor noise.
• Zero-impact philosophy: He insists his personal trackside contribution is "zero," with engineers and designers chasing lap time. His role is optimizing the environment, maintaining simplicity, and shielding staff from external politics.
• Style differences: Mekies acknowledges his collaborative, low-profile approach contrasts with Horner's public confrontational persona. But he argues leadership matters more than style, and that keeping strategic debates private helps the team stay focused on pure racing.
• Staff turnover: Despite high-profile exits like Gianpiero Lambiase to McLaren and Paul Monaghan's Cadillac links, Mekies reports no mass exodus. The staff rallied around the single goal of restoring race-winning pace.
• RB22 trajectory: The 2026 car remains winless, yet Mekies notes Red Bull has erased roughly one second of deficit in eight races. He refuses to use the year-one power unit or a pending wind tunnel as excuses, calling them future strengths instead.

What's next:

Mekies is betting on patience. With the power unit maturing and a new Milton Keynes wind tunnel coming online, he believes Red Bull sits at the bottom of an upward performance curve. The immediate priority is converting that trajectory into wins and giving Max Verstappen a car capable of fighting for championships again.