29/07/2025 07:25
New Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies feels he still has a lot
to learn after discovering "a very complex group" in taking over on
the pit wall from Christian Horner for the first time. A new era at
Red Bull was ushered in over the Belgian Grand Prix weekend. After
20 years and an unbroken 405 races at the helm, and with Horner in
attendance at every one, his recent sacking meant the team had a
new face at the helm. After previously working at the FIA and
Ferrari, as well as serving as team principal at Racing Bulls for
18 months, Mekies has taken on the Herculean task of stepping into
Horner's shoes and steadying a ship that had started to veer off
course under the Briton's reign. After two intense weeks at the
factory, getting up to speed, Mekies oversaw his first race
weekend, and was at least blessed with a winning start courtesy of
Max Verstappen's sprint victory on Saturday. The grand prix proved
to be more difficult, with Verstappen starting and finishing
fourth, with Red Bull not aided by calls from FIA race director Rui
Marques around the wet conditions, which did not impress Mekies .
Reflecting on his first race weekend in charge, speaking to the
media after being asked by RacingNews365, Mekies said: "After two
weeks at the factory, trying to meet as many people as possible, it
was nice to also meet the race team, enter into the race dynamics,
and see the flow, processes, and operations. "So that was super
good, in terms of getting to know the team, as you would imagine."
Appreciating what he experienced with Red Bull compared to Racing
Bulls, Mekies added: "It's a team where everything is done at a
mega level. "There is a very, very tight group, a very complex
group, so there is still a lot more for me to learn about the
group, but it was a very good, full immersion weekend."
