Helmut Marko explains what sets Laurent Mekies apart from Christian Horner amid 14-hour factory shifts

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Laurent Mekies will contest his second race as Red Bull team principal after finding success in Belgium with Max Verstappen on his debut.

Verstappen won the Sprint race on the Saturday after Red Bull made a key decision to run lower downforce, knowing he could overtake leader Oscar Piastri in the opening corners.

Mekies also deviated from what his predecessor, Christian Horner, did in organising a “pretty rare” meeting with Toto Wolff.

Verstappen’s teammate Yuki Tsunoda thinks Mekies’ presence has had a positive impact on the team so far, implying that the mood around the team has changed.

Discussing how he thinks Mekies has performed since the shock sacking of Horner on the F1 Insider podcast, Helmut Marko has explained one key difference about the French engineer.

Helmut Marko explains what makes Laurent Mekies ‘different’ leader at Red Bull

The announcement that Mekies would take over Horner happened fairly quickly, with the Frenchman initially saying that he didn’t accept the role when called by the higher-ups at Red Bull.

After some thought about the pedigree of the team, he agreed that it was the right opportunity and called them back to accept.

Carlos Sainz thinks Mekies is the “perfect fit” for Red Bull, having worked with him at Ferrari, and Marko has outlined why his engineering background makes him different to Horner.

“Mekies made a very good debut and made intensive use of his time. He was active in Milton Keynes for at least 14 or more hours a day, sought contact with the leading figures and also held relevant discussions,” said Marko.

“What sets him apart or makes him different is that he is an excellent engineer, and the discussions focus more on technology, which was also our goal with this position.”

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

Max Verstappen confirms Red Bull drive for 2026 amid Mercedes interest

Verstappen has put the rumours that he is considering a move to Mercedes to bed by confirming that he is going to drive for the team in 2026.

Much speculation has been made about the Dutchman after George Russell confirmed he was in talks with Mercedes, while Marko confirmed that Verstappen joining the Silver Arrows would be now “out of the question” at Spa.

Now he has confirmed to the media to end the speculation, committing his future to the Milton Keynes squad as they look to return to title-winning ways.