Christian Horner ‘never’ imagined that Red Bull replacement Laurent Mekies would do one thing

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Laurent Mekies has won two Grands Prix and a Sprint in his first five weekends as Red Bull team principal. In doing so, he’s surely exceeded his own expectations.

Mekies is refusing to take any credit. Instead, he prefers to focus on the brilliance of Max Verstappen, whose recent performances have underlined his status as an all-time great.

But what Mekies has done is change the team’s methods. There’s a greater emphasis on driver feedback, as opposed to simulation data.

Under predecessor Christian Horner, Red Bull looked to be heading for their worst constructors’ position for 10 years (fourth). But now they’re just 14 points behind third-place Ferrari, and 18 back from Mercedes in second.

Christian Horner didn’t see Laurent Mekies as a potential successor when he hired him

According to The Daily Mail, Horner is ‘resolutely supportive’ of Mekies. The Frenchman was handed one of the most intimidating succession tasks in F1 history when he took over.

Horner was by far the longest-serving team principal in F1 and, over 20 years, he’d turned Red Bull from a team few in the paddock were taking seriously to serial champions.

Ironically, it was Horner who brought Mekies to Racing Bulls last year. They needed a new boss after veteran Franz Tost stepped down.

Though Horner was ‘well aware’ of the Frenchman’s strengths, he ‘never’ imagined that Mekies would replace him one day.

Sporting director Jonathan Wheatley was seen as a potential Red Bull boss in the future, but Audi poached him to run their F1 project last year.

Source close to Christian Horner reveals whether he’s missing Formula 1

The Mail’s report adds that Horner, who has just formalised his split with Red Bull, remains in regular contact with F1 figures, including members of his former team.

Verstappen sent Horner supportive messages in the weeks after his sacking, and it seems the two remain on good terms. The Dutchman’s camp have firmly denied any involvement in the change of leadership.

A source close to the 51-year-old says he ‘wants the freedom to return ASAP’ because he’s ‘missing’ F1 ‘a lot’. Horner can return in the summer of 2026 as per his settlement.

He found it ‘particularly’ difficult to miss the Italian GP, one of his favourite races on the calendar, after attending it every year for ‘three decades’. Horner watched from afar as Verstappen took victory.