This year has been slim pickings however, with Red Bull sitting fourth in the constructor\u2019s standings heading into this weekend\u2019s Hungarian Grand Prix.<\/p>\n
Verstappen is third in the driver\u2019s standings, but well behind McLaren pair Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1753528389_190_poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the second Red Bull seat has been an ongoing saga as Liam Lawson replaced Sergio Perez at the end of last season, only to be outed for Yuki Tsunoda after only two races.<\/p>\n
The departure of legendary designer Adrian Newey was a significant loss as several key figures bid farewell.<\/p>\n
Allegations made by a female colleague against Horner of inappropriate behaviour also made things unstable – Horner denied the accusations and was cleared firstly by an internal investigation and secondly following an appeal.<\/p>\n
‘Miles earlier!’: Max on rolling start | 01:02<\/p>\n
Marko would not pin point any of those factors as instigating Horner\u2019s removal, only performance across race days.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe decision was made by the management – that is, Oliver Mintzlaff,\u201d Marko told Sky Germany.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe informed Christian Horner of it in London. At the same time, we officially thanked him for 20 years and eight world titles.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the result of various factors. But primarily, performance was not quite where it should be.\u201d<\/p>\n
SPA, BELGIUM – JULY 26: Dr Helmut Marko, Team Consultant of Oracle Red Bull Racing looks on during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Belgium at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on July 26, 2025 in Spa, Belgium. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Horner was replaced by Laurent Mekies, who was promoted from Red Bull\u2019s secondary team, Racing Bulls, and Marko has been impressed with what he has seen so far from the Frenchman.<\/p>\n
\u201cLuckily, we were able to bring in Laurent Mekies from within the Red Bull family. His role will be significantly more focused – primarily on racing,\u201d Marko said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s an excellent engineer, which is a good fit considering the complex technology in Formula 1.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve already seen that he communicates very well with the staff. We\u2019re hopeful that we can gradually return to the top.\u201d<\/p>\n
Piastri wins a wet Belgian Grand Prix | 03:52<\/p>\n
Mekies is the latest team principal to come from an engineering background with McLaren\u2019s Andrea Stella the leading example at present.<\/p>\n
Marko believes Mekies\u2019 technical experience can provide a significant boost to Red Bull going forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe that\u2019s definitely an advantage. Other teams have gone this route before us,\u201d Marko said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlso, the scope of the role has been clearly reduced. The company has 2,000 employees. Mekies will mainly focus on the technical side and racing.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarketing, the RB17 project, or Powertrains are each handled by separate departments. So, he can dedicate his full energy to racing success.\u201d<\/p>\n
SPA, BELGIUM – JULY 25: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing talks with Dr Helmut Marko, Team Consultant of Oracle Red Bull Racing in the garage during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Belgium at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on July 25, 2025 in Spa, Belgium. (Photo by Mark Thompson\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
There was speculation in the aftermath of Horner\u2019s sacking that team bosses had made the decision to increase their chances of keeping Verstappen for next season and beyond.<\/p>\n
The Dutchman has been linked with a move to Mercedes, and he said in Belgium that he maintained a strong relationship with Horner, and accepted the decision from the top levels of the team hierarchy.<\/p>\n
Piastri picks off Norris in first lap | 00:32<\/p>\n
Verstappen\u2019s father, Jos, called for Horner to leave Red Bull in March 2024 after the misconduct allegations were made against him.<\/p>\n
The ex-racer spoke to Sky Sports\u2019 Martin Brundle and Nico Rosberg on the grid in Belgium on Sunday, and said he had no issues with the current state of things at Red Bull.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey decided to change. I\u2019m fine with everything,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Verstappen was reminded by Rosberg of his calls for Horner\u2019s exit, to which he replied: \u201cThat was one and a half year ago. It\u2019s different. I have nothing to say. It\u2019s fine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then asked if he was staying quiet following the decision, he said: \u201cI\u2019m always quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko has revealed that the primary cause of Christian Horner\u2019s sacking was underwhelming performances…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33390,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[2074,2095,13273,64,14017,63,2071,30769,30772,2115,1199,18732,30767,2057,817,30776,2051,813,816,2105,28104,4405,30771,20674,30773,1737,2022,2082,22298,825,30777,849,2041,2067,3583,18243,28119,30774,2118,946,25601,2072,2643,85,30775,2087,30770,13773,30768,3370,3586,2614,2062,2798],"class_list":["post-33389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-adrian-newey","tag-america","tag-andrea-stella","tag-au","tag-austin","tag-australia","tag-belgium","tag-belgium-grand","tag-bull-racing","tag-bull-racing-team","tag-christian-horner","tag-consecutive-world-titles","tag-engineering-background","tag-europe","tag-f1","tag-figures-bid-farewell","tag-file-photo","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-grid-walk","tag-helmut-marko","tag-hungarian-grand","tag-jos-verstappen","tag-key-figures-bid","tag-lando-norris","tag-london","tag-mark-thompson","tag-martin-brundle","tag-max-verstappen","tag-misconduct-allegations","tag-nico-rosberg","tag-north-america","tag-northern-america","tag-northern-europe","tag-oliver-mintzlaff","tag-race-lead","tag-racing-team-consultant","tag-racing-team-principal","tag-red-bull-racing","tag-rolling-start","tag-sergio-perez","tag-sky-sports","tag-sports","tag-standings-heading","tag-team-bosses","tag-team-hierarchy","tag-team-principal","tag-team-principal-christian","tag-texas","tag-united-kingdom","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-western-europe","tag-world-titles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33389\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}