Laurent Mekies told his one major challenge to fix Red Bull ‘mess’ that sacked Christian Horner left

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Laurent Mekies is now a week into his tenure as the F1 CEO and team principal of Red Bull after they sacked Christian Horner, yet he is only just realising the size of the task.

The Frenchman is only the second team principal that Red Bull have known since buying the ailing Jaguar team off Ford before the 2005 season. Horner quickly came on board to steer the ship in Milton Keynes and would go on to claim eight drivers’ plus six constructors’ titles.

But an internal fight for power over the past 18 months and Red Bull’s declining results have ultimately now cost Horner his job. So, Mekies moved up from sister team Racing Bulls after Red Bull sacked Horner without telling him why last week to try and turn their form around.

Laurent Mekies must ‘reorganise everything’ to fix the ‘mess’ that Christian Horner left at Red Bull

Horner almost oversaw the perfect campaign when Red Bull won 21 of the 22 Grands Prix in 2023. Yet they have only won 11 of the 36 Grands Prix since – including only seven of the 31 since Adrian Newey quit Red Bull after growing frustrated by Horner devaluing his influence.

Newey is just one of the headline names to leave Red Bull in recent years, as well. McLaren lured Rob Marshall away in 2023 and Will Courtenay away in 2024 (although Horner forced him to stay at Red Bull through 2025), while Jonathan Wheatley took over Sauber this April.

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

So, Jeroen Bleekemolen feels Mekies now faces a major challenge after replacing Horner at Red Bull, as the 48-year-old must ‘reorganise everything’. The team are in a ‘mess’ and that is even before Mekies handles the threat of Max Verstappen leaving Red Bull for Mercedes.

“It’s a great job, of course,” Bleekemolen said on Paddockpraat. “But it’s a mess there. You have to reorganise everything, and maybe Max will leave. That would have a huge impact because Max is a driving force within the team.

“For Mekies, it’s a big step from a smaller team to a top team. This is a logical next step in his career. Now, he has to make it happen, or not… He really has to be a leader, and whether Mekies is that? I’m not so positive about the choice yet. But I’m happy to be surprised.”

Red Bull will hope Laurent Mekies’ technical background turns their fortunes around

After watching the end of Horner’s reign from the wings at Racing Bulls since the start of the 2024 term, Mekies’ first focus is Red Bull’s methodology. The Frenchman believes Red Bull must improve how they start Grand Prix weekends as poor practices add ‘a lot’ of pressure.

But simulator driver Sebastien Buemi believes Red Bull lose Horner’s ‘political’ power, albeit while gaining Mekies’ ‘technical’ know-how, with a change in leadership. Horner utilised his closeness with FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem to tout ideas that can help Red Bull.

Red Bull will certainly hope that Mekies’ technical background, having previously worked as an engineer specialised in aerodynamics, can help to turn their fortunes around. Verstappen scoring 165 of their 172 points in 2025 leaves Red Bull 288 behind McLaren after 12 rounds.