Red Bull told Max Verstappen’s Monza win proves ‘fundamental’ change since sacking Christian Horner

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Max Verstappen won the 2025 Italian Grand Prix at Monza last Sunday to give Laurent Mekies his first win since he replaced Christian Horner as Red Bull’s F1 team principal.

The team from Milton Keynes made a huge change to their hierarchy this July when Red Bull sacked Horner without telling him why the Briton was being put on gardening leave. The 51-year-old was the only team chief that Red Bull had ever known since debuting in F1 in 2005.

A run of declining results and a fight for power behind the scenes at Red Bull ultimately cost Horner his time as their F1 CEO and team principal. Mekies moved up from Red Bull’s junior team Racing Bulls to replace Horner, with the Italian GP marking his fourth race at the helm.

The Italian GP also now marks Red Bull’s first pole position and race win under Mekies, after Verstappen beat Lando Norris to pole at Monza by 0.077 seconds and then won by 19.207s. The Dutchman’s victory also marks the biggest winning margin of the 2025 F1 season so far.

Laurent Mekies gives Red Bull the engineering expertise they were ‘lacking’ since Adrian Newey left

Gary Anderson even thinks Verstappen’s Italian GP win at Monza last Sunday has proven the fundamental change that Mekies replacing Horner has offered Red Bull. He claims Mekies is now able to plug the technical gap that Adrian Newey created when he left Red Bull in 2024.

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

While Horner spoke a “good game” and celebrated when things clicked at Red Bull, he could not help them fix any shortcomings like Mekies now can and yielded Verstappen’s Italian GP win. Mekies has also now changed the way that Red Bull operate at the top of the hierarchy.

Anderson told The Telegraph: “I believe something has changed fundamentally at the team since Christian Horner departed and Laurent Mekies arrived.

“Horner spoke a good game when it came to engineering, but he was not an engineer – Mekies is. He appears to be driving the team like Andrea Stella is at McLaren, with a sound engineering background and a focus on facts.

“It is a whole different world for the team because the man at the top can help to understand why the car was quick and not just celebrate that it was quick. Red Bull had been lacking in this area since Adrian Newey left last year.

“It will be interesting to see if they can keep this thought pattern and direction going because last year, and earlier this year, they seemed to be lost and unable to understand their car. This win, and the manner of it, suggests they are on the road to changing that.”

Red Bull still need Laurent Mekies to get their second car up to pace after Yuki Tsunoda’s miserable Italian Grand Prix

Verstappen’s Italian GP win at Monza was Red Bull’s first win since the 27-year-old also won the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola this May. Five races without a win then saw Horner depart, before Mekies took over their helm ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa this July.

Now, Mekies has his first win as Red Bull’s team principal thanks to Verstappen. But Red Bull still need the Frenchman to work his magic on more than just the Dutchman’s car, after Yuki Tsunoda finished the Italian GP in P13 after yet another disappointing race for the Japanese.

The Red Bull RB21 was the car to beat in Verstappen’s hands at Monza, with its straight-line speed too much for McLaren’s Norris or Oscar Piastri to contend with. Yet Tsunoda was not able to pose a threat to those around him, and finished the Italian GP 80.701s off the lead.

It was not a great look for Red Bull that the images shown around the world of Verstappen taking the chequered flag to win the 2025 Italian GP opened with Tsunoda starting his final lap. Verstappen has already lapped Tsunoda four times in just 14 Grands Prix as teammates.