Red Bull Racing team principal Laurent Mekies has delivered his most expansive comments since taking over the role, using his appearance on Formula 1's Beyond The Grid podcast to pay tribute to predecessor Christian Horner, explain his own leadership philosophy and give a rare inside look at the team's new in-house power unit programme.
Mekies was unreserved in his praise for Horner's 20-year tenure, dismissing the idea that the right leadership style is a matter of personal signature.
"at first you need to give a huge credit to Christians. The results speak for themselves. they have been historical and you know Christian was leading that team making it grow and therefore you know hats off to what has been done. I don't think leadership style matters. I think what matters is that as a leader that you take care of your people that you put them in the heart of the project and that you get them the environment for them to express this talent," Mekies said.
His own approach, he told host Tom Clarkson, is to stay out of the way of the specialists.
"The only thing we do is to make sure our people have what they need to work. That's the only thing we do. It means create the best working environment for your people to express their talents. So yes, it means empowering them as much as you can and it means make sure that you have the right people and you keep the right people," Mekies said.
A defining call on arrival was the refusal to concede the 2025 season in favour of a head start on 2026.
"we thought and we still think it was the right thing to do because we felt that turning the page to 26 would have been a little bit of an easy escape and a wishful thinking that next year will be better even though we didn't fully understand what were the limitation of 25. We didn't think it was the right way," Mekies said.
"the truth is Tom nobody wanted to do that in Milton Keynes nobody wanted to turn the page they all wanted to get to the bottom of that 25 car get to the bottom of what didn't work to the level expected and turn things around and yes they knew there would be a price to pay pay for later But that's how deep is the fighting spirit in the team," Mekies said.
What strikes him most about Red Bull culturally, Mekies said, is an almost obsessive focus on race performance.
"This team is striking me and I'm sure quite a few others in how close to pure racing it is. You know, every single person on the campus is trying to make the car 1,000 of a second faster and is obsessed about that. And all we try to do as a team principle on top of the people aspect is to make sure that our group is not disturbed or slowed down or distracted by what you call the politics but can actually focus on what they love to do and what they are so good at," Mekies said.
The Barcelona pre-season test provided what he described as a watershed moment for the team's Ford-partnered Red Bull Powertrains division.
"Seeing the car exiting the garage in Barcelona, first preseason test day without any shakedown. We are one of the few teams if not the only one not to have shakedown before Barcelona. Seeing that car getting out at like 900 Z in the morning and doing 100 laps on that first day, I think was an incredible reward for the work that everyone has been doing in Milton Keynes days and night, weekends," Mekies said.
Mekies did not shy away from Red Bull's current reality — fourth on pace and chasing a Mercedes benchmark.
"we think it's 360. so we don't think there is one area or another that is to be focused on. The fact that the power unit is not identified as being a specific weakness but more simply an area like every other area to be improved in order to be at the level of the benchmark which is Mercedes today is already as such an incredible achievement," Mekies said.
"We try to do everything we can to make sure this is not a transition year despite the size of the challenge, despite the new power unit challenge, despite the challenges you have mentioned. We want to make sure that we are not in a transition year Tom. We are in full attack mode as we said not happy about the starting point," Mekies said.
The message from Milton Keynes, more than a month into the new era, is a careful one: respect for what came before, honesty about the size of the catch-up, and a refusal — even in a transition year — to let the fight drift away.