Red Bull’s new era began with a shrug. Installed as Red Bull Racing CEO in the wake of Christian Horner’s dismissal, Laurent Mekies says he was never told why the team ended the tenure of its founding boss.
In the days after the British Grand Prix, Red Bull confirmed Horner had been relieved of his duties. Mekies, promoted from his role leading Racing Bulls, was moved into Horner’s seat at Milton Keynes. But when the obvious question came up at Spa, the Frenchman didn’t pretend to have an answer.
“The short answer is no, they haven’t,” he told reporters when asked whether Red Bull had explained the decision. “We didn’t get into the why and the why now, but they outlined the sort of objectives they had for the team moving forward.”
Horner’s final 18 months were choppy. He was twice cleared by Red Bull following allegations of inappropriate behaviour from an employee, while the team saw heavyweight departures in Adrian Newey, Jonathan Wheatley and Rob Marshall. Results slid too. In that context, the move reads like a hard reset.
Mekies’ brief is clear: strip out bottlenecks and refocus the race team. “One thing that is very high in our priorities is to make sure that we have the right focus, that we avoid any bottlenecking in the company at all levels,” he said. “Formula 1 comes first. We have the chassis operation, the power unit operation. That’s what is going to be the main focus. It’s a racing team. People in the team love racing. That’s what they are here for.”
Is he a stopgap or the long-term steward? Mekies wouldn’t bite. “I don’t think anyone doubts what the objectives of the team are short‑term, mid‑term, long‑term: it’s to fight for wins and to fight for championships,” he said, before adding a touch of reality: “Does anyone have a contract that guarantees him to stay forever? No. I don’t either. But I think it’s pretty normal in Formula 1.”
The scoreboard underlines the task. With 10 rounds left in the 2025 season, Red Bull sit fourth in the constructors’ standings, 42 points back from Mercedes and 66 behind Ferrari in the chase to be best of the rest behind a dominant McLaren.
So Mekies steps into a giant’s shoes amid a restructuring that even he can’t fully explain. He’s not promising miracles, just method: unblock, refocus, race. In a team built on relentless execution, that might be exactly what Red Bull needs right now.
