After more than 20 years at the helm, Red Bull took F1 by surprise by relieving Horner of his duties<\/a> after this year\u2019s British Grand Prix<\/a>.<\/p>\n CHRISTIAN HORNER\u2019S RECORD AS RED BULL F1 TEAM PRINCIPALGrands Prix entered406Wins124Podiums287Pole positions107Points8,009Drivers\u2019 championships8 (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)Constructors\u2019 championships6 (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2022, 2023)<\/p>\n Red Bull brought Laurent Mekies<\/a> in as Horner\u2019s replacement, bringing him in from Racing Bulls, where he held the same role.<\/p>\n There have been highs and lows in Mekies\u2019 short time in charge, with Max Verstappen<\/a> struggling to finish in the points at the Hungarian Grand Prix after winning the Sprint Race in Spa.<\/p>\n Yuki Tsunoda\u2019s F1 future is a point of contention<\/a> at Red Bull as well, but the most positive weekend of Mekies\u2019 tenure just finished at the Italian Grand Prix<\/a>.<\/p>\n Verstappen set the fastest lap in F1 history and won the fastest race in the sport\u2019s history at Monza, and Ralf Schumacher<\/a> thinks Red Bull are now benefiting from Mekies\u2019 involvement already after stepping into Horner\u2019s shoes.<\/p>\n READ MORE: All you need to know about Red Bull team principal and CEO Laurent Mekies<\/a><\/p>\n Schumacher was reflecting on the Italian Grand Prix on the Backstage Boxengasse Podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mekies refused to take credit for Red Bull\u2019s success at Monza<\/a>, and when he looked back at the weekend, Schumacher said: \u201cWell, Christian Horner was someone who also loved motorsport and did a great job with Red Bull, but he\u2019s more of a manager.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I believe that Christian Horner doesn\u2019t understand these connections as quickly as a pure technician.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then there\u2019s Mekies, who is a great talent, but also a great talent at bringing people together. He doesn\u2019t think he\u2019s that important; he just wants things to work.<\/p>\n \u201cIt reminds me a bit of Vasseur saying, \u2018I don\u2019t want to be at Ferrari, I want to win with Ferrari.\u2019 And that\u2019s pretty much Mekies\u2019 attitude, too. He loves it and now, of course, he has a huge opportunity, but he understands every connection much better.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, because he has the technical expertise and the knowledge, and accordingly, when he is presented with something, he can immediately say, \u2018Look, good, great, it looks good, but we still have to go in this direction, in that direction, and five times around him, I would estimate, maybe even eight, depending on how many positions there are.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n READ MORE: All to know on sacked Red Bull team principal Christian Horner with net worth<\/a><\/p>\n Laurent Mekies becomes the latest engineer to become a Formula 1 team principal<\/p>\n The trend of having a more engineer-focused team principal has been increasing for several seasons now.<\/p>\n![\"Red](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2021683242-1024x683.jpg\")
Photo by ANDREJ ISAKOVIC\/AFP via Getty ImagesRalf Schumacher thinks Christian Horner didn\u2019t \u2018understand\u2019 Red Bull technical requirements like Laurent Mekies<\/p>\n