26/08/2025 20:00
Liam Lawson has highlighted the crucial aspects of Laurent Mekies'
work ethic that will benefit Red Bull following the Frenchman's
recent appointment as team principal. Red Bull stunned the F1 world
when it opted to axe Christian Horner as team boss after 20 years
in charge, a few days following the British Grand Prix. After just
18 months as Racing Bulls team principal, but with considerable
prior experience with Ferrari and the FIA, Mekies was immediately
installed as Horner's replacement. F1 stalwart Alan Permane was
charged with leading Racing Bulls. For Lawson, it meant the
departure of a man he had grown to know during his six-race stint
with VCARB last year after replacing Daniel Ricciardo, and on his
return to the team this season following an ill-fated two-race
cameo with Red Bull. Assessing whether Mekies' guidance will be
missed in the long term, speaking to the media, including
RacingNews365, Mekies said: "Having his presence has been very,
very nice, but he's still well within the Red Bull family. "For
Alan, he's somebody who's obviously been in the team now for a
couple of years, and somebody that I think is very well suited for
the position, who has the relationships with everybody, and is very
motivated as well to carry on Laurent's form, as such, with what he
was doing." Lawson dismissed the suggestion that Racing Bulls had
'lost' something with Mekies' exit, given Permane's overall
knowledge and experience, but that Red Bull has certainly gained.
"Something that Laurent was very, very good at was leading the team
and having everybody around him, and having the motivation and the
work ethic very high in the team," the New Zealander added. "He
worked very, very hard. He's always here [in the F1 paddock] on a
Thursday, every single race weekend. He's probably one of the first
guys to arrive, and to show that to everybody in the team, it's
very important." Lawson has no doubt Mekies will succeed, in
particular, providing "some consistency". "I just know that he'll
do a good job if he's trusted to do the job that he's very good at
doing," said Lawson.
