Former Haas Formula 1 team principal Guenther Steiner has praised Red Bull team chief Laurent Mekies for his calm leadership, crediting him with the Milton Keynes outfit’s recovery following Christian Horner’s exit.
Mekies replaced Horner in the role of Red Bull Racing CEO and team principal in July 2025. The Briton’s exit was one of many key personnel departures from the team in recent years, including Adrian Newey, Helmut Marko and Jonathan Wheatley.
Not only did Mekies have the job of stabilising the squad after numerous exits, but he also managed the team through the introduction of its new power units developed by Red Bull Powertrains in collaboration with Ford, alongside the regulation changes in 2026. It currently sits fourth in the constructors’ championship.
The Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia became a milestone moment for the team after four-time champion Max Verstappen secured his first win of the season and the first win for the Red Bull Powertrains project.
Speaking on The Red Flags Podcast following the race at the Sepang International Circuit, Steiner applauded Mekies for ignoring any outside noise and stabilising the team.
“He inherited a team a little bit out of control,” Steiner said. “Good old Laurent just worked it out, always friendly, always with a smile, always polite.
“He never threw the toys out of the pram when Max Verstappen shouted, ‘This is not acceptable.’ He just worked along. Some people left, somebody said, ‘This team is going nowhere,’ all that stuff. Guess what? He brought it back.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Laurent Mekies, Red Bull Racing Team Principal
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images
“Thinking about what Laurent did and nobody noticed. Everybody just criticised, ‘Oh, Christian is gone…’ No, he came in, no ego involved, he just did a solid, good job. They won a race in quite a dominant fashion, so fair play to him.”
When asked what it is that Mekies brings to the table that is so important for the team, Steiner added:
“It’s his experience because he worked everywhere and staying calm. He is never overreacting, always finding a way to address if there is a problem, and just shutting out the noise from outside, which is an art in itself because it gets on your nuts.
“Over the years, Laurent just learned, ‘I do the best I can. I don’t get disturbed by the noise from outside. I just do my job and if it works, fine, if it doesn’t work, let’s see what happens then.’
“He can go back on a lot of experience, he has done a lot of jobs in his life in F1.”
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