The new CEO and director of the Red Bull Racing team, Laurent Mekies, spoke of the last -minute phone call he received about his promotion of the team’s main advisor, Helmut Marko, and the general manager of Red Bull Gmbh, Oliver Mintzlaff, hours before the escape of Christian Horner.
Horner served Red Bull for 20 years as the first director of the team team, a partnership that saw eight pilot titles and six manufacturer championships. However, after a difficult period of about eighteen months, Red Bull decided to separate from Horner.
Although the Milton Keynes -based team has not revealed the reason for the major decision, Marko revealed in a separate interview that several factors led to the exit of Horner, the highest among them being the performance. He said:
“It was the result of various factors, but above all, the performance was not as good as it could have been.
Laurent Mekies, director of the Oracle Red Bull Racing team speaks during the press conference of team directors during the Sprint qualification before the Belgian F1 Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit on July 25, 2025 in Spa, Belgium.
Clive Rose / Getty images
“Fortunately, we were able to bring Laurent Mekies into the family. His responsibilities will be considerably reduced, the accent being put on the race.”
Mekies is delivered with a proven history of the Junior F1 Junior team from Red Bull, Racing Bulls, which he joined in 2023. The call to a promotion to Red Bull caught him by surprise, just like everyone else. Speaking of the telephone call which raised its position to lead one of the most prosperous teams of F1, Mekies told the media of Spa Francorchamps:
“Well, it was not very different for me than for you, really, the guys. I received a call a few hours before you were informed. I received a call from Oliver and Helmut and they asked me if I would be interested in doing the work.
“Obviously, he came out of blue at that time for me. I was actually in the United Kingdom at Racing Bulls and he came completely unexpectedly. I asked them to think about it for a few hours and I hung up the phone. It is difficult to digest.”
Relying his thoughts that prompted him to assume the new role, Mekies said:
“But the first thing that comes to mind is:” Wait a second. It’s Red Bull. They call you. They ask you to intervene to do this work, with all that Red Bull means – his energy, his mind, how they go about their race teams “and that’s how you get the phone and you say:” Of course, it’s an honor. It is a privilege “” “”
Despite the great moment for Mekies, he did not stop for giving credit to the person who brought him to the Red Bull – Horner family. Mekies added:
“The first thought obviously goes at that time to Christian also because it is not something that I could have expected. And it had not been nothing other than extremely favorable with me in the last two years.
“It is not a secret that it was him with Oliver and Helmut who brought me back to the Red Bull family a few years ago. So this is the kind of emotions you get at that time.
“But as I said, the dominant is that it is Red Bull calls. I suppose it is a question of loyalty to go to the brand and that you simply say:” Of course, if you think you need me, I will go there “.”