Laurent Mekies has used his first in-depth interview as Red Bull Racing team principal to pay a warm tribute to the 20-year tenure of his predecessor Christian Horner, outlining a philosophy of leadership built around empowerment and describing a Milton Keynes culture he says is more fixated on pure racing than any other team he has worked for.
Speaking on Formula 1's Beyond The Grid podcast, the Frenchman was asked directly about the Horner era and the challenge of following a team principal who had built Red Bull into one of the most successful constructors in the sport's history.
"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.
That credit comes with Mekies's own take on the role. Rather than reshaping Red Bull in his own image, he says his responsibility is to remove obstacles for the specialists who actually build and develop the car.
"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.
The decision not to abandon development of the 2025 car in favour of a head start on the new regulations was, Mekies told host Tom Clarkson, his defining call after taking over mid-season. He has no regrets despite the brutal early 2026 form.
"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.
He added that the decision reflected what he called an extraordinary spirit inside the factory.
"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.
Pressed on what defines Red Bull culturally, Mekies was unambiguous: it is the most racing-first environment he has experienced.
"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.
That focus has been tested by the switch to an in-house power unit developed in partnership with Ford. Mekies singled out the Barcelona pre-season test as the milestone that told him the programme had landed.
"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.
The competitive reality, however, is that Red Bull find themselves fourth on pace and facing a Mercedes benchmark that has been unbeatable in the opening three rounds. Mekies describes the catch-up job as total rather than targeted.
"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.
Despite the scale of that deficit and the loss of Adrian Newey and other senior personnel in the transition to the new era, Mekies was emphatic that 2026 would not be written off.
"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.
Horner's record of multiple world titles over two decades will take some eclipsing. For now, Mekies is content to honour his predecessor, back his engineers and focus Red Bull's fight on a championship he is not prepared to concede.
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*Originally published on [Formula One News](https://newsformula.one/article/mekies-tribute-horner-historical-20-year-red-bull-legacy). Visit for full coverage.*