After the surprising dismissal of Christian Horner, Laurent Mekies is his successor as a Formula 1 team boss at Red Bull Racing. The Frenchman was last boss at the sister team Racing Bulls and is considered a technology expert with a 360-degree view.
At the age of 48, Mekies has been a surprisingly long in business-and as part of the “brouse family” a logical choice of group bosses as the new team leader. Just one day after Horner’s Demination, the very sympathetic-looking aerodynamic engineer appeared at a media appointment at Red Bull and showed that he was at least surprised by the dynamics of events.
“It still feels a little unreal to be here and not to see him”Mekies said about the shot Christian Horner, and referred to the long cooperation and the successes that the Briton had celebrated with the team since 2004: “I got to know him 20 years ago when he was the youngest team boss in Formula 1 – and it is incredible what he has built since then: the way, the many, many titles and victories.”
Insights up close
Eight driver’s titles and designer successes are a high bar for the smart Frenchman, who came to motorsport as a studied engineer at the beginning of 20: after the start at Asiatech in Formula 3, he moved to Arrows in 2001. The adventure “Red Bull” began with the change in 2003 on Minardi: his employer was taken over in 2006 by the Formula 1 segment of the mega entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz and-as a sister team of Red Bull-renamed Toro Rosso.
| Year | team |
|---|---|
2001 – 2003 | Arrows |
2003 – 2005 | Minardi |
2006-2014 | Toro Rosso |
2014-2017 | Fia |
2018 – 2023 | Ferrari |
2024 – 2025 | Racing Bulls |
Since 2025 | Red Bull Racing |
After successful stations at the FIA and Ferrari, Mekies, born in Tours in 1977, returned to Red Bull in 2024 to successfully lead the racing bulls.
Ennobled by Vasseur
So now the rise of a man to the class of the top teams followed, the Ferrari team boss Frederic Vasseur when it comes to saying goodbye to the Scuderia Adeltes: “I think he has a very, very good understanding of the business because he started as an engineer and then worked on the FIA”said Mekies’ compatriot. And Vasseur added: “And for such a position you need someone with a complete understanding of the entire company.”
Already in 2022 in Austria on the podium – Max Verstappen (left) and Laurent Makies (2nd VR)
Red Bull is probably needed at the present time at Red Bull: the success racing stable of the past few years has been heavily knocked out. Horner’s leadership style and the quarrels of recent history had led to a development that was no longer successful. Verstappen is only third in the individual ranking. The 2025 World Cup title can still be reached. But after the departure of important guarantees of success, such as the aerodynamic “God” Adrian Newey and sports director Jonathan Wheatley As well as other top people, Red Bull are forecast for several difficult years.
New regulations, new drive
In addition to the difficult driving behavior of the current car, which is unusually unusual for exceptional skiers Max Verstappen, the development of the radically different variant for the strongly changed 2026 regulations should not go precisely enough. The cars should become cheaper, smaller and “sustainable”. Red Bull also develops its own engine with Ford after Honda will cooperate with Aston Martin.
An ultra -swing setup to get started for Laurent Mekies. The tough business “Formula 1” is about success. And the Horner case showed how short the ignition cord can be. The signs for his outline had compressed in the past few months. But the time before the summer break surprised many experts.
The new team boss of Oracle Red Bull Racing Laurent Makies (right) in conversation with the former Oracle Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner (left)
“Firefighter” Mekies
Nevertheless, Mekies can now write his own success story – in the football business one would say: as a firefighter. “The focus will be on ensuring that all these talented people have everything they need to perform at top level – because they are already the best”said the new boss “We focus on keeping this Red Bull spirit alive in the entire team.”
He now wants to take care of the people in the team, form them into one unit again: “The next few weeks will be all about to meet as many of our people as possible, to listen to them, to understand this beautiful, magical machine, which is Red Bull Racing – and finally find ways to help and support them.”
In Belgium, Mekies can put on Verstappen … but then?
Mekies’ first race as the responsible person is already in front of the door with the Grand Prix of Belgium this coming weekend (sprint on Saturday, 12 p.m., and GP on Sunday, 3 p.m., both races in the live ticker at sportschau.de). Perhaps the veteran can help to avoid rough carvers like the wrong tire choice in Barcelona.
One of the most important tasks in the near future will be to keep world champion Max Verstappen in his own ranks. But possibly Mekies has no chance at all: the Dutch is recently increasingly associated with Mercedes for the next year due to the difficult development at Red Bull.