Brundle: Mekies holds back Horner’s F1 return as team boss
Laurent Mekies on the pit wall - Photo: Red Bull Content Pool
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A filmmaker with a soft spot for Ronnie Peterson, Gilles Villeneuve, Mika Hakkinen and above all, Tazio Nuvolari and Ayrton Senna, is also a diehard Formula One fan since the age of 4 (mid-90's). An avid researcher of the past of Grand Prix Racing since before it was even named F1, and with a thirst for knowledge of the ins and outs of the actuality of the sport, as well as for the technical aspects that define it, is a member of GPblog since 2023, where he has put his love of racing to good use.
According to F1 analyst Martin Brundle, current Red Bull Racing team boss Laurent Mekies’ style and approach keeps ousted Christian Horner from returning to the sport in the role he held at the Milton Keynes-based squad.
"That’s why Christian wouldn’t want to come back as a team principal."- Martin Brundle.
Brundle is quick to praise current Red Bull leader for the way he’s been able to steer the team in the right direction, arguing a new type of F1 team boss is quickly taking over the scene in the sport.
“Very impressed and he’s handling it in a very mature way,” Brundle said of Mekies in the Sky Sports F1 Show. “Ego, absolutely non-existent. We’re seeing a new type of team principal these days, aren’t we?”
This parameter shift, Brundle thinks is the reason why Horner refrains from coming back in the role he took up for over two decades at Red Bull. “That’s why Christian wouldn’t want to come back as a team principal.
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Christian Horner in the F1 paddock - Photo: Race Pictures
“I think with more of an engineering background, seems to be the way to tie together these vast quantities of highly specialised people in a team and he’s got help with the politics, with Helmut Marko and others.”
An increasing number of Formula 1 teams have also gone for team principals with an engineering background, like McLaren’s Andrea Stella, who has been essential to the Woking-based team’s return to its glorious form.
Racing Bulls, Aston Martin, Williams, Haas and Sauber, have also recruited some big names with a stellar technical/strategical background as well.
Second Red Bull seat decision? Mekies is ‘the right man’
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Red Bull are still to announce their driver line up for the 2026 season, which Brundle believes will be made in collaboration with Mekies and the rest of the higher-ups in the team’s hierarchy.
“So I think it’ll be a collaboration on the [2026] driver choice, probably more so than in the past among the senior people in Red Bull, but I think he actually is the right man for the right time in Formula 1, and that’s the way it’s going.”
Racing Bulls driver, and title contender Max Verstappen are the only drivers who’ve been confirmed for the upcoming F1 season, leaving the Dutch driver’s and the French Algerian current teammates, Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson respectively, alongside F2 talent Arvid Lindblad, to fight over the remaining two seats in the Red Bull family.
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