F1 EXPLAINED: Who is Laurent Mekies?

Having spent over two decades at the pinnacle of motorsport, Laurent Mekies has been at the helm of Formula One's sixth most successful team, Red Bull. F1Technical's senior writer Balazs Szabo reveals some key moments of Mekies' illustrious Curriculum Vitae.

Just two days after the British Grand Prix, Red Bull Racing announced that Christian Horner would leave the team with immediate effect. The Briton has been at the helm for almost the entire team's history in F1 but his exit follows a couple of troublesome years of internal struggles since Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz passed away.

Horner has been in charge of Red Bull since the team entered the sport in 2025, serving as team principal for two decades. During that time, the 51-year-old Briton has led Red Bull to six constructors' and eight drivers' world championship titles.

Red Bull elected to promote Laurent Mekies to lead the Milton Keynes-based outfit.

Mekies began his career at Arrows before working as a race engineer at Minardi. He was promoted to chief engineer at Toro Rosso prior to becoming the safety director and, later, deputy race director at the FIA.

Prior to his time with Red Bull GmbH, he served as sporting director and deputy team principal at Ferrari from 2018 to 2023.

Laurent Mekies was born on April 28, 1977, in Tours, France. After completing his studies in mechanical engineering at the École supérieure des techniques aéronautiques et de construction automobile (ESTACA), he secured a master's in automotive engineering at the renowned Loughborough University.

Like most racing drivers, Mekies also started his adventure into motorsport in the lower racing series'. In his case, it was Formula 3. Mekies began his journey by joining Asiatech in 2000. Not long after, he broke into Formula 1 when Peugeot brought him on board as an engineer for its engine programme. This role quickly led to a move to the Arrows F1 team – then a Peugeot-powered outfit – where Mekies was responsible for engine performance from 2001 to 2002.

"I was first in Formula 3 and then sent my CV to Peugeot. Two weeks later I was testing as an engine supplier for Arrows, while three weeks later I started the F1 season in Melbourne. All because Jean Alesi moved to Sauber and took one of his engineers with him, creating a vacancy at Peugeot," Mekies said.

In 2003, Mekies joined Minardi as a race engineer and rose through the ranks to become chief engineer. Then, when Red Bull took over the team and rebranded it as Toro Rosso, Mekies stayed on, remaining with the Faenza-based outfit team until 2014.

The following season saw Mekies join the FIA as safety director, He was later appointed F1 deputy race director in 2017 alongside the late Charlie Whiting. During this period, the Frenchman served as Director of Vehicle Performance, coordinating six departments to optimise car performance. He also coordinated work related to the supervision of research and development projects carried out by F1 teams.

In 2018, Mekies returned to the pit wall, but this time with Ferrari. Initially appointed Sporting Director, he was later promoted to Racing Director in 2021 and managed race operations, driver strategy and car performance.

Mekies stayed at Maranello until mid-2023, when he accepted an offer to return to Faenza as Team Principal of the newly rebranded Visa CashApp Racing Bull, taking over the role from respected team boss Franz Tost, who remained with the Italian team in an advisory function, providing advice.