Red Bull Racing has fired former team boss Christian Horner and promoted Racing Bulls Team Principal Laurent Mekies as the new head of the senior team.
Mekies is a long-time figure in the F1 paddock, serving as a race engineer and team engineer for multiple teams.
His most recent role prior to Racing Bulls team chief was at Scuderia Ferrari, where he served as both sporting director and racing director for the storied racing team.
Along with the official announcement came a statement from the new leader at Red Bull:
Photo by Andrej ISAKOVIC/Getty Images
“The last year and a half has been an absolute privilege to lead the team with Peter. It has been an amazing adventure to contribute to the birth of Racing Bulls together with all our talented people,” Mekies said in a press release.
“The spirit of the whole team is incredible, and I strongly believe that this is just the beginning. Alan is the perfect man to take over now and continue our path. He knows the team inside out and has always been an important pillar of our early successes.”
Mekies joined the Red Bull family in 2024 – taking over as the team principal for the sister team and leading it back into midfield success.
RB was once a backmarker team that was lucky to score the odd point every couple of races. Under Mekies’ leadership, the team is a consistent points threat and a clear-cut midtable team.
He has developed racing talents like Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar into consistent performers in a short amount of time.
Now, he takes over a Red Bull team in complete disarray – falling mighty short of the team’s title aspirations.
Mekies gets the chance to turn around the team in what is the biggest position of his career.
He leads a team that is one of the four largest in the sport and features arguably the fastest driver over the last five years.
As for Horner, he steps away from a team that he has led since its inception. While he is known for being controversial, the Brit undoubtedly knows how to lead an F1 team to title-winning success.
Over the past couple of seasons, Horner has been embroiled in several scandals, including allegations of misconduct, which have caused headaches for the racing team.
The departure of Horner marks the start of a new era for Red Bull, which Mekies will lead.
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