Laurent Mekies Pushes Back on Horner’s Claim Red Bull Has Lost Its ‘Presence’ and ‘Vibe’
Red Bull Racing team boss Laurent Mekies has pushed back against Christian Horner’s assessment that the team has lost its identity following his departure. Horner, who was sacked from the team principal role in July 2025, recently commented on his former team’s atmosphere. The Briton claimed that Red Bull had “lost its mojo, its presence, its vibe” since his exit.
Responding to Horner’s remarks, Mekies shared a different perspective, noting that the team is in a good space now despite its difficult spell during the 2026 F1 season.
“We certainly feel extremely differently about the vibe in the team,” Mekies said in Friday’s press conference at the Mexico City GP.
“One of the strong points we have been enjoying certainly in the last few months is the incredible team spirit that has allowed us to come back from an objectively very difficult moment.”
Laurent Mekies Talks Red Bull’s Team Spirit Amid Difficult Season
Red Bull faced a severe performance and reliability crisis at the start of the 2026 season with its RB22 car and new in-house power unit. After the opening few rounds, the team dropped as low as sixth in the constructors’ standings.
Laurent Mekies praised the team spirit that, despite a challenging start to the season, the team remains united, and this brought the team closer together rather than affecting its atmosphere.
“The way the team stuck together, the way the team set the Milton Keynes department on fire to try to come back, and the way they have done that, it’s such a challenging matter, from any of our team members to the brutally honest comments of our drivers,” Mekies said.
“That’s the Red Bull spirit, and that’s certainly how we feel we need to go racing.”
When Mekies took over the role of Red Bull team principal from Horner, the Milton Keynes-based squad was going through a period of poor performance. However, after Mekies took charge of the team, Max Verstappen went on to win six of the next nine races last year.
The Dutchman also took the team back-to-back in victory lane earlier this month in Sepang and Singapore.
Laurent Mekies Says Red Bull’s Ultimate Target Is Winning Titles
While praising the team’s recent progress, Mekies made it clear that a few race victories would not be enough to satisfy Red Bull’s ambitions. His ultimate goal is to put the team back in a position to consistently win championships.
“The guys got the reward they deserved with the turnaround that they have produced, which is very remarkable, but ultimately we are well aware that we live and die with our result,” Mekies said.
“The target is not to win one race or two races; the target is to be back to world titles, and until we are there, nobody will feel we have achieved anything.”
Red Bull has won six constructor championships and eight drivers’ championships since its inception, and Mekies hopes there will be many more to come in the future.
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