Red Bull’s new boss is going to be all ears for Verstappen
Laurent Mekies stepped into the team principal role at Red Bull Racing after Christian Horner’s exit, making his debut last weekend. F1 experts are already weighing in on how the Frenchman’s leadership style might shake things up.
“I’ve known Mekies longer than you have, because I’ve worked with him in two positions,” said F1 pundit Kees Van de Grint during Viaplay’s ‘In the slipstream’ show. “He’s super nice, maybe too nice and he’s going to listen to Verstappen a lot.”
Dutch commentator Nelson Valkenburg thinks that’s actually a good thing.
“What has happened at Red Bull in recent years is that the technical leadership did not listen to the drivers. Not to Verstappen, but also not to the second driver,” Valkenburg explained.
Since 2023, Max has been warning that the team was heading in the wrong direction.
The dynamics at the top of Red Bull have completely changed now. The old partnership between Horner and technical director Pierre Waché has been broken up.
“With three or four words Mekies will understand what is being said,” Valkenburg added.
Van de Grint was more blunt: “I don’t know if he understands that, but that’s what I mean by being the boss, because Verstappen is going to decide now and that’s not bad.”
He believes the previous setup was far too Horner-centric.
“It wasn’t Red Bull, it was ‘Horner-Racing.’ And he determined and had his thoughts about that, that you need a driver.”
While nobody expects Mekies to suddenly produce a faster car, his willingness to listen could make a real difference.
## Hungary hopes hang on qualifying
This weekend, Verstappen will be hunting for just his third win of the season at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The three-time world champion remains cautious about his chances, knowing that the tight Hungaroring circuit makes passing nearly impossible. That puts extra pressure on Saturday’s qualifying session to secure a good grid position.
