Mekies made Red Bull’s people a priority in his first year in charge

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Archive photograph: Laurent Mekies at Web Summit in Lisbon on 11 November 2025. Archive photo. Resized and converted to WebP. · 2025-11-11Archive photo · 2025-11-11 · Alex Broadway / Web Summit / Sportsfile · CC BY 4.0

During his first 12 months at Red Bull, Mekies listened to team members and focused on putting them in the right roles as the team sought a return to the top.

From the GPBeat newsroomPublished · 17 Oct 2026, 10:17 · 1 min

Laurent Mekies made Red Bull’s people a priority in his drive to return the team to the top. Over the past 12 months, he listened to staff and focused on putting people in the right roles, Formula 1 correspondent Lawrence Barretto writes.

Mekies took over from Christian Horner last summer, the only other person to have led Red Bull’s factory F1 team since its debut in 2005. Barretto describes the team at that point as being in flux, with stability lacking in several areas.

Barretto says the lack of a solid foundation also left Red Bull at risk of losing Max Verstappen, whom he describes as the team’s prime asset.

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