Mekies has proven Horner why he shouldn’t return to F1 as a team principal, says Brundle

Red Bull’s season looks a lot different now than it did a few months ago, and the team’s turnaround coincided with Laurent Mekies taking over as team principal from Christian Horner.

Martin Brundle has taken notice, saying he is “very impressed” with the work Mekies has done so far.

Although Max Verstappen had previously dismissed his chances for the title, he now sees a possibility, despite a substantial 35-point deficit to Lando Norris with only four races left.

Red Bull’s upgrade plan has also pulled them back into the race for P2 in the constructors’ standings, trailing Ferrari by 10 points. To close that gap fully, Mekies will need more consistent performances from Yuki Tsunoda – something he has not quite managed yet.

The Frenchman, meanwhile, has not taken any credit for the turnaround. Brundle spoke about this on Sky Sports’ ‘F1 Show’ podcast and praised him for showing no signs of an ‘ego’.

Laurent Mekies is a new type of team principal

Mekies was no stranger to high-level racing roles before stepping in as Red Bull team principal, having served as Ferrari’s racing director.

But nothing could quite prepare him for the pressure that came with replacing Christian Horner. Horner had been the face of the team since their early days in 2005 and had delivered 14 titles over two decades.

Horner’s exit might be another sign of how F1 leadership is evolving. Brundle made a point of saying that teams are increasingly turning to those with engineering backgrounds to run their operations.

Andrea Stella at McLaren has already proven himself with two championships, and most other teams have followed suit by putting former engineers in charge. Only Mercedes under Toto Wolff and Alpine with Flavio Briatore break from that trend.

“Very impressed, of course. He’s handling it in a very mature way – ego absolutely non-existent, parked.”

“We’re seeing a new type of team principal these days, aren’t we? That’s why Christian wouldn’t want to come back as a team principal, I think.”

“More of an engineering background seems to be the way to tie together these vast quantities of highly specialised people in a team. He’s got help with the politics, with Helmut Marko and others.”

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