Helmut Marko admits Red Bull have made one ‘crucial’ change to Laurent Mekies’ remit after replacing Christian Horner

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Laurent Mekies will direct his first race as the F1 CEO and team principal of Red Bull at the Belgian Grand Prix yet has already made changes since replacing Christian Horner.

The travelling circus has reconvened at Spa this weekend in round 13 of the 2025 F1 season and the first race that Red Bull have ever entered without Horner at the helm. Red Bull hired the 51-year-old to oversee their debut in 2005, but they have now called time on his tenure.

Red Bull sacked Horner without telling him why he was being placed on gardening leave just two days after the British Grand Prix earlier this month. Red Bull also immediately promoted Mekies from his role as the team principal of their sister crew Racing Bulls to replace Horner.

Horner led Red Bull to all eight of their F1 drivers’ championships and six constructors’ titles, 124 wins and 107 pole positions across 406 Grand Prix entries. But Mekies will now try to fix the mess that Horner left at Red Bull, who have had declining results for the past 18 months.

Red Bull have ‘reduced’ Laurent Mekies’ job remit from Christian Horner’s total control

Red Bull’s shareholders hope Mekies can improve the F1 team’s image now the 48-year-old is in charge instead of Horner, who built rifts with other team bosses and figures within the team as the Briton wanted total control over every inch of their operation in Milton Keynes.

READ MORE: All you need to know about Red Bull team principal and CEO Laurent Mekies

Mekies will not enjoy the same control as Horner as Helmut Marko, the motorsport adviser for the parent Red Bull GmbH company, has now stated that it was ‘crucial’ to reduce what the Frenchman will oversee. But it has not stopped Mekies from ‘already’ making changes.

“Mekies has already adjusted a few details in the simulator preparation,” Marko outlined to Kleine Zeitung. “Basically, he focuses more on the racing action and is less involved in other departments. It’s crucial that his responsibilities as team principal have been reduced compared to Horner’s.”

Laurent Mekies wants to change how Red Bull start their Grand Prix weekends

Horner held the reins at Red Bull Racing and Red Bull Powertrains and also oversaw the Red Bull Junior Team programme alongside Marko. But Mekies agreed to decentralise control at Red Bull from Horner’s total oversight as he uses his technical background to help the team.

READ MORE: All you need to know about Red Bull Racing from engine to Ford links

Changing how Red Bull utilise their simulator to prepare for Grand Prix weekends is just the first change that Mekies will make. Improving Red Bull’s methodology is Mekies’ priority, as he saw while in charge of Racing Bulls how the senior team struggled in practice this season.

Red Bull have often started the race weekends slowly this season and improved their set-up across the three practice sessions to give Max Verstappen a car with which he can challenge McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. So, Mekies wants Red Bull to try to start stronger.

Mekies’ wish will also be put immediately to the test at Spa, where Marko admits that Red Bull cannot afford a ‘disaster’ in practice for the Belgian GP. As it is an F1 Sprint weekend in Belgium, there is only one practice session and the threat of rain could make things harder.