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Red Bull Racing no longer wants to make enemies in Formula 1

19:00, 01 Jan

byTim Kraaij

Red Bull Racing no longer wants to make enemies in Formula 1, as Laurent Mekies believes it doesn’t fit the Red Bull spirit.

After Christian Horner’s dismissal, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff explained that 'it’s nice to be able to talk to the Red Bull team principal again.' That sentiment was echoed by several of Red Bull Racing’s rivals, who, over the years, had clashed more than once with Mekies’ predecessor.

Wolff even revealed that at the first F1 Commission Meeting he attended, the Frenchman said Red Bull no longer wanted to make enemies in F1. Mekies would like Red Bull to become a fun team again, not one that people hate.

The first proof of that was seen during 'tape-gate.' Red Bull removed McLaren's tape on the starting grid, which had been placed to give Lando Norris a better reference for where to park his car. This first came to light at the United States Grand Prix when McLaren used stronger tape and the Red Bull mechanic who tried to remove it left the grid too late.

After that incident, Mekies was very clear: 'we are not going to do this anymore.' Whereas Red Bull under Horner sometimes did absolutely everything to win, Red Bull under Mekies is clearly taking a different approach.

Red Bull parts ways with Horner’s approach

GPblog asked Mekies about this and whether it was a conscious choice to handle the incident differently. He explained: "Let me put it this way. It's an incredibly competitive environment. And we believe that to be competitive there, you also need to enjoy what you are doing.

"'We work hard, we play hard.' That's the Red Bull spirit. This team personifies pure racing. And all we have done is to make sure that we can, as a group, concentrate on pure racing, not getting too distracted by the noise around, and do what we fundamentally love to do, which is to try to get these cars to go faster on the track.

"So that's all, really. Concentrate on what we love to do, enjoy what we do, push harder than anyone else, and try to enjoy the process."

Former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was not averse to a hardline approach - Photo: RacePictures

Former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner did not shy away from a hardline approach - Photo: RacePictures

That mentality clearly brought the fun back to Red Bull Racing, which, since Mekies’ arrival, seemed to operate as one team again. It almost led to the greatest comeback ever in Formula 1, with Max Verstappen finishing just two points behind Lando Norris in the standings after trailing the leader by 104 points at one point.

It also proved a bit easier for the competition to work with Red Bull. Not only was Wolff happy to be able to speak with someone from the Austrian team again, Zak Brown was also clearly more friendlier with Mekies than with his predecessor.

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