Mekies reflects on first day at Red Bull as he sets out key focus for the team

Laurent Mekies has shared his reflections after spending his first day as Team Principal and CEO of the Red Bull team, with the Frenchman setting out the key focus and his own “next step” as he prepares for the “challenge” ahead.

Following the news of Christian Horner’s immediate departure on Wednesday, it was confirmed that Mekies – previously Team Principal at Racing Bulls since the beginning of 2024 – would take over at the Milton Keynes-based squad, while Alan Permane steps into the team boss position at the sister outfit.

Mekies travelled from Red Bull’s campus to join the team for a planned filming day at Silverstone on Thursday, and later gave his assessment of what it had been like to meet his new colleagues.

“I still look at these guys as most people our side of the team look at them,” the new Team Principal conceded. “We see the very best people in the world at what they do; that’s what this team is, even from being competitors previously.

“We look at [Red Bull] as being the sharpest team, having managed to accumulate the biggest amount of talent together, and you guys are just the best at what you do, and it’s a privilege to join the team.

“The focus will really be making sure that all the talented people here have what they need to perform at their best, because they are already the very best, and we’ll be focusing on that, focusing on making sure that the Red Bull energy is flowing through the team.”

While Mekies spoke positively about his first day, he also acknowledged the task facing the squad going forward, particularly in terms of preparing for a new regulation cycle in the sport next year.

“Together with that, we are not underestimating the challenge ahead,” said Mekies. “Formula 1 is going to face probably the biggest change of regulation in its history [in 2026], and it has a very particular place for Red Bull as we go with our own power unit.

“It’s going to be an incredible challenge, and everyone will go about it all together. I’m sure with adding everyone’s contributions as a team, we will tackle this challenge.”

In terms of what his next steps will be as Team Principal and CEO, Mekies underlined that his focus will be on getting to know the people at Red Bull.

“There is only one next step – what you cannot wait to do is to meet the people,” he explained. “Obviously it’s been not even a day now, so I just can’t wait to meet as many people as possible from this incredible team.

“You want to discover the magic, you want to meet the guys and the girls that are doing the magic behind the scenes.

“And that’s what the next few weeks will be dedicated to, to try to meet as many of our people as possible, to listen to them, to try to understand this beautiful, magic machine that is Red Bull Formula 1 [team], and eventually find ways to contribute to this.”