Laurent Mekies did something at the Belgian Grand Prix with Toto Wolff that Christian Horner would never do

Follow us on Google Discover

New Red Bull Racing team principal Laurent Mekies couldn’t have asked for a better start to life in his role.

The Belgian Grand Prix has been a happy hunting ground for Max Verstappen in the past.

The Dutchman drove a perfect Sprint Race to take victory ahead of both McLaren drivers and hand Laurent Mekies his first victory as a Formula 1 team principal.

Qualifying for Sunday’s Grand Prix wasn’t quite as straightforward, as Verstappen made a mistake on his final run after changing his set-up in preparation for a wet race, and he will start from P4 as a result.

However, Yuki Tsunoda had his best qualifying result since his promotion to Red Bull, and will start seventh after having new updates installed on his car at the last moment.

Tsunoda admitted that Mekies’ presence had a positive influence going into qualifying, and while he didn’t make a direct comparison to Christian Horner, it was implied that the mood around the team had changed.

One of the most entertaining aspects of Horner’s time in charge of Red Bull was his rivalry with Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff.

Journalist Chris Medland spotted Mekies take part in an interaction with Mercedes that it would have been ‘pretty rare’ to have seen Horner repeat during his two decades on the pit wall.

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

Laurent Mekies organises ‘pretty rare’ Toto Wolff meeting at the Belgian Grand Prix

Medland was speaking on the Pit Pass F1 Podcast after qualifying, and reporting from the paddock, he shared: “There was an interesting development at the end of today.

“Amid all of that, he wandered down the paddock straight into Mercedes and went for a meeting with Toto Wolff.

“And I just thought it was really interesting to see. I didn’t get told what the reason was for the meeting, but Mercedes confirms it was planned, it was booked in, and that’s why he’d gone down there.

“But, it even struck me that I could not recall, and maybe it just didn’t stick in my head in the past, but I could not recall seeing Christian Horner going into Mercedes for a meeting.

“It must have been pretty rare at least, so on his first race weekend, Laurent was straight in there for some reason or another.

“A few jokes that it was just to warn Toto Wolff off trying to sign Max Verstappen, who again was very positive about his future at Red Bull, saying that the team knows he will always give his all for them, and they can rely on him.

“I don’t actually yet know what the core reason for that meeting was, but it was just interesting to see so early on that’s how that relationship is starting off, much more cordial than it used to be between Red Bull and Mercedes, and Horner and Wolff.

“It’s like a fresh start with Mekies being there.”

READ MORE: All you need to know about Mercedes F1 CEO and team principal Toto Wolff

Red Bull and Mercedes have plenty to discuss amid Max Verstappen’s Formula 1 future

As Medland suggests, there’s no way of knowing right now why Mekies wanted to meet with Wolff at this early stage of his time in charge of Red Bull.

However, the topic that has connected the two teams for some time has been Verstappen.

Mercedes chiefs have greenlit a move for Verstappen, but Wolff has been sounding more and more positive about retaining George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli beyond their current contracts.

Even if a move for Verstappen didn’t happen in 2026, next year’s regulation changes are going to mix up the pecking order in the paddock, and the Dutchman will be keen to keep his options open in case Red Bull aren’t competitive next year.

Mekies’ behaviour in the paddock is likely to be very different to how Horner behaved.

It’s going to take some getting used to if Red Bull and Mercedes are no longer fierce rivals.