Ralf Schumacher says Laurent Mekies reminds him of Andrea Stella in a way that Christian Horner never did

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Laurent Mekies has spent the last two seasons as team principal of Racing Bulls.

In that time, Racing Bulls have cycled through four drivers and become one of the most competitive forces in Formula 1’s midfield.

Isack Hadjar has emerged as one of F1’s most impressive rookies, and Yuki Tsunoda earned a promotion to the senior Red Bull after four years on the grid.

That did mean Liam Lawson being demoted after just two races, but under Laurent Mekies, he’s rediscovered his confidence.

The Kiwi secured the best result of his Formula 1 career at the Austrian Grand Prix, and Lawson may have earned a 2026 contract extension as a result.

However, Mekies is going to learn that the pressure of being Red Bull Racing team principal is at a completely different level to what he was facing at Racing Bulls.

Max Verstappen has been unable to match the levels he’s used to in an underperforming car, which has put his future at Red Bull under the microscope.

There are question marks over Tsunoda’s long-term Red Bull future, too, but Ralf Schumacher believes he’s seen something in the Frenchman that gives him confidence he can handle the role.

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

Laurent Mekies compared to McLaren chief Andrea Stella after taking Red Bull role

Mekies has the tricky task of living up to Christian Horner’s legacy after his exit was confirmed following 20 years in charge at Red Bull.

However, Schumacher, speaking on the Backstage Boxengasse Podcast, believes Mekies is more than up for the job.

He made a flattering comparison to McLaren team principal Andrea Stella and said: “First of all, the ambition, you can see that with Stella and Mekies, [they] have that too, and the experience.

“Where does that come from? In this case, he also went through the entire paddock, even in the smaller teams.

“He was with Minardi for a long time, then in AlphaTauri, and then Ferrari.

“And you have to give him credit, he had his heart in the right place. That’s another issue, what the use is if you’re the king, but you don’t have any subjects who want to work with you, to put it exaggeratedly.

“He has that, and he’s just good at it; he can do that. He can catch people, he can bring people together.

“He can build a team, and that is so crucial in Formula 1. It really is just teamwork at the end of the day, and I think Red Bull made a great decision.”

READ MORE: Luciano Burti shares why McLaren team boss Andrea Stella is so good at his job

Andrea Stella credited with McLaren’s incredible Formula 1 turnaround

Stella is one of the longest-serving team principals in the paddock after being promoted by Zak Brown at McLaren to replace Andreas Seidl.

When Stella first took charge, McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were lucky to get into the points, but the improvement over the past two years has been extraordinary.

McLaren won their first constructors’ championship this century last season, and at the halfway stage of 2025, they have nearly wrapped up another title.

Brown credits McLaren’s success to Stella, and the promotion of another team principal with an engineering background appears to have had a positive effect.

Mekies was previously chief engineer at Toro Rosso, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if Red Bull removed some of the responsibilities that Horner had away from him to allow him to concentrate fully on running the race team.

It’s a template that’s worked perfectly for McLaren and could be just what Red Bull need heading into next year’s regulations.