Former F1 driver Karun Chandhok has noted Red Bull feels like a “different team” this year with Christian Horner no longer at the helm.
Horner was ousted from his team principal role midway through the 2025 season and was replaced by Laurent Mekies.
Mekies graduated from the team boss role at Racing Bulls and led the senior squad into a new era under fresh technical regulations.
The team also promoted Isack Hadjar to the second race seat this year, reuniting the Frenchman with his compatriot.
When asked if working with Mekies once again is a confidence boost for Hadjar’s debut Red Bull campaign, Chandhok told Sky F1: “It must be.
“It is a very different team. Now, Christian Horner is gone, Helmut Marko is gone.
“This is the first full year of the Laurent Mekies era at Red Bull. I think it is perhaps a less high-pressure environment.”
Red Bull has traditionally been ruthless with its line-up decisions, with Hadjar the next name in a long line of drivers who have struggled alongside Max Verstappen.
Although the team has endured a difficult run of form at the start of the current campaign, Chandhok has been impressed by how Hadjar has adjusted.
“It didn’t work, did it, piling on that pressure of giving Liam Lawson two races to prove himself in the seat,” Chandhok said.
“That’s never going to work. So I hope, for Isack’s sake, that this carries on. They don’t need him to beat Max.
“They need him to be a tenth or two behind Max and just make sure that on a day where Max has an issue, or something happens, he’s there.
“Just be right behind him, and so far he’s been there.”