F1’s top team reels as Horner’s reign ends in chaos and Mekies inherits a fractured Red Bull

Red Bull’s once-dominant Formula 1 machine now lies fractured, its leadership overhauled and its aura of invincibility fading. Just three days after the British Grand Prix, Christian Horner, the face of Red Bull Racing since its inception, was sensationally sacked by shareholders. His successor? A seasoned but low-profile Frenchman, Laurent Mekies, who now faces the monumental task of piecing the team back together.

The timing couldn’t be more dramatic. This weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps offers Mekies his first public test in the hot seat. The 48-year-old has taken over as team principal and chief executive officer amid growing turbulence and waning performance.

Once feared for their ruthless dominance, Red Bull have stumbled in recent months. Max Verstappen, their three-time world champion, can no longer reliably fend off the rising McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. The decline is unmistakable. And it played a critical role in Horner’s abrupt exit.

Spa, however, might offer a short reprieve. The circuit’s sweeping corners mirror those at Suzuka—one of Verstappen’s strongest tracks. Red Bull’s ace was also on pole at Silverstone three weeks ago, although poor strategy and weather conditions undid his chances. A victory at Spa would bring some relief, but no one inside Milton Keynes is under any illusion: this is not a comeback. Not yet.

The deep-rooted issues plaguing Red Bull run beyond the car’s set-up. Horner’s iron-fisted grip on power, paired with the team’s eroding cohesion, pushed shareholders to act. For years, he centralised control while engineering genius Adrian Newey quietly shaped the team’s technical backbone. Their combination brought eight drivers’ championships, six constructors’ titles, and 124 race wins.

But now, both Horner and Newey are gone. What remains is a legacy—and a void.

Enter Mekies, a veteran of Formula 1 who began his career in 2001 with Arrows. He’s no stranger to Red Bull, having worked at their junior team, Toro Rosso, and spent years inside the FIA and Ferrari. He brings institutional knowledge and diplomatic ease. But he’s stepping into a maelstrom.

In his first public statement, distributed via Red Bull channels, Mekies struck a humble tone. He promised to “discover the magic” within the team and spoke of “listening to the people” before acting. He knows that he must earn trust fast—especially from key figures like technical director Pierre Wache and head of engineering Paul Monaghan, both central to Red Bull’s internal mechanics.

Behind the scenes, Mekies has already begun embedding himself. He’s spent two weeks at Red Bull’s headquarters in Milton Keynes, meeting staff and dissecting operations. This weekend at Spa will be his first chance to watch the race team up close.

Yet the pressure is immense. Red Bull’s downturn coincides not only with McLaren’s rise but with design flaws in the current car philosophy—flaws once masked by Newey’s brilliance. How much of the decline is due to his absence remains unclear, but the correlation is stark.

Now, Mekies must chart a course without Horner’s political command or Newey’s design wizardry. He inherits a team that still has sparks of brilliance in strategy and execution, but one whose foundation has cracked.

The question that now hangs over Spa and the rest of the 2025 season is brutal in its simplicity: can Red Bull rise again without the two men who defined its legacy? Laurent Mekies is about to find out.