Marko confirms Mekies will have "a clearly reduced scope of the role" at Red Bull
On the back of the shock departure of Christian Horner, Red Bull's motorsport advisor Dr Helmut Marko has confirmed that his successor Laurent Mekies will have "a clearly reduced scope of the role."
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.
Reflecting on Mekies' role as Red Bull's team boss, motorsport advisor Dr Helmut Marko has revealed that the Frenchman will put his focus on the technical side of the Milton Keynes-based outfit while several other departments will fall under others' responsibilities.
"Luckily, we were able to bring in Laurent Mekies from within the Red Bull family. His role will be significantly more focused - primarily on racing.
"He's an excellent engineer, which is a good fit considering the complex technology in Formula 1. We've already seen that he communicates very well with the staff. We're hopeful that we can gradually return to the top.”
Marko continued: “I believe that's definitely an advantage. Other teams have gone this route before us. Also, the scope of the role has been clearly reduced. The company has 2,000 employees. Mekies will mainly focus on the technical side and racing.
"Marketing, the RB17 project, or Powertrains are each handled by separate departments. So, he can dedicate his full energy to racing success."
Asked to explain the reasons for Horner's shock sacking, Marko has revealed that while various factors played a role in the decision, the main concerns was Red Bull's downturn in performance in recent times.
"The decision was made by the management - that is, Oliver Mintzlaff. We informed Christian Horner of it in London. At the same time, we officially thanked him for 20 years and eight world titles.
"It was the result of various factors. But primarily, performance was not quite where it should be," concluded Marko.
