Concerns for the Racing Bull’s following Mekies departure – For some time it has been agreed amongst the paddock glitterati that the seat at Red Bull Racing alongside Max Verstappen is the toughest job in Formula One. But that poisoned chalice of a role has now been eclipsed following the sacking of the longest serving team principal in Christian Horner.
Horner had built the F1 team from the ground up, with much of what remained from the old Jaguar team being abandoned. As the youngest F1 team boss in the sport aged 13 years of age, Christian set about making waves up and down the pit lane.
He has over the years instilled a sense of ‘us verses them’ culture, much like the siege mentality Sir Alex Ferguson brought to Manchester United in his tenure of more than 20 years. Unfortunately for Laurent Mekies, he for many will be perceived as part of the ‘them’, following his installation as team boss by the Austrian men in grey suits.
F1 trend towards ‘engineering’ team bosses
In conjunction with Horner’s firing, two other senior members of staff aligned with his methods were removed from their public relations roles. Whilst attending what was a routine meeting, chief marketing officer Oliver Hughes and group communications director Paul Smith were escorted from the premises and their company issued devices taken from them.
The Red Bull narrative coming from Austria, is that the current trend is towards team principals coming fro an engineering background. There are claims that both Haas and the Racing Bulls have benefited from such a switch in leadership skills, although lately it appears the biggest impact has been made by Jonathan Wheatley at Sauber, who was the Red Bull Sporting director until recently.
There are clear differences in the way those from an engineering background set about the role of team boss, given their input on technical matters comes from a position of strength. This may well work in Max Verstappen’s favour given he has been complaining about the design of the car for over a year and matters appear to be getting worse. Yet in terms of managing a huge organisation like Red Bull Racing with its associated technology and powertrain divisions, Mekies will be out of his depth.
There are important partner relationships also to manage and again the loss of the marketing and communications officers will hamper progress in this area. Yet Mekies now has the hardest role in F1, both to manage the Red Bull Racing programme and return them to winning ways once again.
Red Bull execs “extremely happy” with Racing Bulls
Often overlooked following the SHOCK departure of Horner, is how the Racing Bulls sister team will fair in the brave new world. Whilst not responsible for the day to day operations, again Horner was a senior person of influence in the team and he certainly gave input over who the drivers should be.
Now the little known Alan Permane has stepped into Mekies shoes for the Racing Bulls as team boss for the first time in his life. Jermaine started his F1 career in 1989 as an electronics test engineer for the Benetton team. He too has never been a number one leader of an F1 team and admits the split roles between Milton Keynes and Faenza will require him to travel much more than he is used to.
“Well, the plan of action is to keep things as they are,” said Permane, highlighting his views of the Racing Bull’s future. “Laurent and Peter have done a fantastic job with this team over the last 18 months, leading to a surge in competitiveness. And my plan is to keep that running, keep the team on the same trajectory as it’s been on.
“It’s a great team and I know that the senior Red Bull guys are extremely happy with the way the team is being run. They’re very happy with our competitiveness. The target is to be top of the midfield, and we are certainly in a battle for that and we’ll continue that fight throughout this year.
Permane’s lack of experience a concern
“From my side, it’s certainly going to mean some more travel. I’m predominantly based in Milton Keynes. In my previous role as racing director, I did spend some time in Italy, but it will no doubt mean I will split my time between the two sites. Probably a little bit more on the Faenza side, where that larger part of the team is,” concluded the once Enstone based engineer.
The Racing Bull’s currently lie seventh in the constructor’s championship with 36 points although the recent mixed conditions at Silverstone saw Sauber claim an unexpected podium with Nico Hulkneberg which demoted the Faenza team by one position yet concerns remains as to whether Permane can continue to momentum.
This is a much healthier position than the team were a year ago, Despite the demotion from Red Bull after just two rounds of the 2025 campaign, Liam Lawson is now finding his feet, scoring his first points of the season in Imola and backing it up with a strong P6 finish in Austria.
Tsunoda’s future at Red Bull looks bleak
For many, Isack Hadjar has been the stand out rookie of the year so far, and with Antonelli faltering in recent Grand Prix this is a fair assessment. Hadjar is expected to replace Yuki Tsunoda at the end of the year in the Red Bull team, although questions remain as to whether Max Verstappen will be his team mate.
Having scored three times in his first five outings since being promoted to Red Bull Racing, Tsuoda has found himself in a slump. His five qualifying results up to and including in Austria have been the worse by any Red Bull driver in the past 18 years and included three Q1 exits.
With Honda partnering Aston Martin from 2026 onwards, the Japanese driver will lose the support of his key sponsor’s influence within the Red Bull organisation. And for the Racing Bulls there are unknown times ahead, as Permaine picks up from where Mekies left off in an effort to make the team the best in the midfield.
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The McLaren Formula One team head into the second half the the 2025 campaign with an unassailable lead in the constructor’s title race, but the battle between their drivers for the coveted first world championship is tight.
With wins for Norris at the last two outings in Austria and Silverstone, the gap is now just eight points in favour of the young Australian driver. Yet the secret to Norris rejuvenation was laid down in Canada where the team introduced a modified part to the MCL39’s front suspension.
Lando won just one Grand Prix across the first seven weekends, whilst team mate Oscar Piastri made hay with four victories in the same time span. Yet the Canada. upgrade, which only Norris has opted to use to date, appears to have given the driver more ‘feel’ on corner entry having complained the car felt “numb” earlier in the season…. READ MORE
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