Red Bull ‘rebellious’ culture to change – Red Bull Racing was formed from the ashes of the latest efforts of auto giant Ford to compete at the highest level of motorsport. The Stewart F1 team was acquired by the US car manufacturer in 1999 for a reported $100m and Ford planned to build a state of the art facility in Silverstone to house both its chassis and proposed power unit operations.
As with many things Jaguar F1, this never happened and the team remained at its base in Milton Keynes. In a reflective editorial piece written in 2023, Motor Sport claimed that Jaguar was “one of the most high-profile failures in F1,” with “a revolving door of management that made Jaguar Racing look like an employment bureau rather than a slick F1 team.”
Things would change quickly once the energy drink entrepreneur appointed the youngest F1 team principal in Christie Horner (31) who immediately brought back the team’s previous boss Guenther Steiner to assist in rebuilding the team. Yet once the appointment of Adrian Newey was secured later in 2005, Didi Mateschitz approached the Italian to lead their NASCAR effort in the USA.
Red Bull ‘edgy’ culture
As part of the energy drinks branding, the Red Bull F1 team would adopt a youthful, edgy and rebellious culture, upsetting others in the pit lane by blasting out their music during a post race tear down. “Who let the dogs out” was a favourite in the early boisterous years and it was all part of the ‘us and them’ culture Horner was to adopt.
Just as Alex Fergusson did for two decades at Manchester United, Christian created a siege mentality amongst his loyal workforce who were vociferous in their support for the team, its management and drivers.
But just three days after the 2025 British Grand Prix, all this was to come to a crashing end. Horner was sacked by the Austrian overlords for reasons unstated, and understated Frenchman Laurent Mekies was parachuted in to take his place. The coup D’etente almost appears to have surprised the men in grey suits back in Saltzberg, given Mekies character is as far from the Red Bull brand as could possibly be found.
Laurent has an engineering background and was promoted to the role of chief engineer when the Minardi team was acquired by Red Bull to race as Toro Rosso. He joined the FIA in 2014 before moving to Italy three years later to ultimately occupy the role of sporting director for Ferrari.
Mekies a more “guarded” character
He parted ways with the Scuderia in 2023 before returning to the Red Bull junior F1 squad to replace Franz Todst as team principal. With no apparent succession plans in place, the Austrian’s have promoted Mekies to what must be the toughest job in the whole of F1.
Unlike Horner, Mekies is an understated and studious character and the hope is his engineering experience may help Red Bull in sorting out some of the problems they’ve found themselves in over the past 18 months. Yet being team principal of a front line team is not a role for shy and retiring violets, something even Fred Vasseur at Ferrari has struggled with at times.
Ex-F1 racer turned commentator, Joylin Palmer, believes Mekies will now bring about a culture change at the Milton Keynes based F1 team. Gone will be the ‘all guns blazing’ approach of Horner, whether on the attack or in defence of his team, with Mekies character reflecting a more measured and pragmatic approach.
“He’s a very different personality to Christian Horner, so I’m going to be fascinated to see how the team reacts to him,” Palmer told the F1 Nation podcast. “I think he’s more gentle than Christian Horner. You know, Horner’s only line of defence was always attack, wasn’t it? Whereas I think Laurent’s a little bit more guarded.”
McLaren huge upgrade for Norris
Culture change a ‘big ask’
Joylan ponders whether the differing personalities of Horner and Mekies will result in “a bit of a culture change at Red Bull. Remember all those bits of paper that we saw whenever there was a stewards’ decision that went against him or Verstappen?
“So I wonder if that will change, and it will be a bit more of a pragmatic race team, maybe, and not necessarily, all guns blazing attack in favour of Max. But we will see, because we really don’t know what Laurent Mekies is going to be like in this situation.”
Yet the question is, does Mekies have the strength of character and personality to fill the huge boots Horner has left behind? Only time will tell but his F1 life to date has generally been one where he has been under the radar.
To change the culture of an extravert organisation employing around 2000 employees is a big ask and will take time and the coming weekend in Belgium will see Mekies bombarded by the F1 media. There is the ongoing issue to handle of Max Verstappen’s short term future, with paddock rumours suggesting there may be a “big press conference” in Spa, where the world champion will make known his decision.
Media frenzy facing Mekies in Spa
Clearly, the sacking of Horner was an opportunistic moment in time taken by the parent company directors, given were this a well planned transition, Mekies would not be top of the short list of candidates to inherit Christian’s responsibilities.
Yet as the Austrian’s immediately assumed control of the F1 team’s public relations and communications functions, it appears they will develop a more corporate structure for their most successful sports operation in the Red Bull portfolio. And for this Mekies is a classic recruit who will not rock the boat.
Horner was a favourite for selection by the FIA for its team principal press conferences, but the lineup for Belgium has not yet been decided. What is certain is that Formula One has lost one of its big characters and as the modern drivers now play paddle and golf together – rather than engage in pit lane fisticuffs – it feels like the sport is continuing to lose some of its spice and edge.
Christian Horner will be back in the F1 paddock once his high severance package has been resolved. And from a cultural fit, it appears partnering with the flamboyant Italian, Flavio Briatore, at Alpine would be the best fits for his leadership skills together with finally the opportunity to own a share in a Formula One team.
F1 considers further rule change
Formula 1 plots crackdown on complaint culture as teams face new fees – The rumblings of discontent in the Formula 1 paddock may soon be muffled, not by tighter regulations on car design or pitlane procedures, but by something far more mundane, increased paperwork fees. Yes, as the sport’s teams huddle under the dark clouds of midseason fatigue, Formula 1’s rulemakers are busy plotting a new kind of crackdown, one aimed not at corner-cutting or budget breaches but at the very fabric of bureaucratic drama: formal complaints.
At a recent meeting in London, the FIA’s sporting commission discussed measures to stem what they diplomatically described as “a growing volume of protests, complaints and technical challenges.” In layman’s terms, the teams have been snitching. A lot.
Currently, lodging a protest in Formula 1 costs somewhere between €2,000 and €6,000, a fee that might sting in grassroots karting but barely registers as a blip on the radar of billionaire-owned F1 operations. Now, however, the governing body wants to slap a proper price tag on such mischief. Though the exact figures haven’t been finalised, one thing is clear – complaining in Formula 1 is about to get a lot more expensive…. READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
