Max Verstappen and the F1 world spoke about the changes at Red Bull with Christian Horner making way for Laurent Mekies, who got replaced by Alan Permane at Visa Cash App RB.
Post the British GP weekend, Red Bull dropped a bombshell by relieving Horner from his team principal duties after 20 years of service. They announced Mekies as his replacement, coming off from sister outfit Visa Cash App RB, while Permane was announced as his replacement.
The changes, although, seemed likely to happen anytime in the last couple of years, it was still a surprise news in the middle of the F1 season. The shareholders at Red Bull GmbH took a big decision to drop Horner eventually, after a year of his controversies slowing down.
With Belgian GP being the first F1 weekend since the news dropped, both the Red Bull drivers Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda went through their stories of getting the information and paying their respects in helping them in their careers. They also welcomed Mekies in the new role.
For Tsunoda, it is good news considering that he has already worked with the Frenchman at Visa Cash App RB. Both the VCARB drivers Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar praised the work done by Mekies too, while touching on the Horner topic. They welcomed Permane in the new role as well.
Hadjar reckoned Mekies at Red Bull is good news for him, considering the future Red Bull step will come under his watch. Former Red Bull-backed drivers like Alexander Albon, Carlos Sainz and Pierre Gasly shared their views on the F1 team taking the big step of dropping Horner in such a way.
Max Verstappen: “Well, I don’t know. I mean, at the end of the day, management and of course the shareholders decided that they wanted a change and at the end of the day they were on the team and I’m the driver so whatever they decide, it’s fully in their right to do what they want. And that’s basically how it happened and at the same time now, sitting here, you look back at those 20 years of Red Bull, I think we’ve had a lot of great years, great results. Now eventually of course there are also years where it’s not going that well and I think the last one and a half years have not gone how we would have liked. And yeah, management decided they wanted to steer the ship in a different direction probably. And then, yeah, everyone else of course has to anyway agree to that but I’m looking forward and I am looking forward because I had already quite a few meetings with Laurent as well. The last two weeks have been quite intense for him to jump in but yeah, I’m equally also excited for the team moving forward because that’s what we have to do.
“Looking back, it doesn’t make sense. It’s not going to make you faster but at the same time, we do appreciate of course those 20 years and especially from my side, the 10, 11 years that I’ve been part of Red Bull. Those things will always be remembered and the relationship between myself and Christian, for example, that doesn’t change. Of course he’s not here now during the race weekend but it’s still like a second family to me. [My chat with Laurent?] We’ll keep that between ourselves of course. What I want to focus on. He’s incredibly motivated and I like that. You can see the fire. It’s new in the role but it’s exciting. Of course his background is different, coming more from engineering compared to Christian. It’s been good, I like Laurent. He’s a very nice guy first of all, very clever guy. He’s been in different areas of the F1 paddock as well. I think that can be helpful. Time will tell [about changes]. I cannot say right now, within two weeks of not even action on track that suddenly everything is different or better. But we are trying to be better and we are trying to work on that. [When I got the news?] I don’t know, half a day before? Yeah.
“The shareholders told me. I have a good relationship with them, so I think it’s quite normal that they inform some people in the team before it goes out. I think it’s a standard practice. Surprised? At the end of the day, I think in this world, things like that can happen. When they told me, it’s not like they just said, ‘this is what we just decided and then they hung up the phone’, we had a conversation about it. Now I don’t need to go into detail what they said but it’s okay if you guys think that is the way forward. I’m the driver, you decide and this is how we’re going to do it. And yes, I did. I did speak to him (Christian) and time will tell. The team’s morale, I think it’s been good. Of course, when there’s a change like that on the first day, people are a bit like, ‘okay, what’s happening?’ But luckily also, I think on the day after the announcement, I was at the factory doing my simulator stuff. You just go back to work. We have to work on performance, setting up the car here, making sure that everything is co-related in the best way possible. You just focus on that because at the end of the day that’s my job, that’s engineer’s job as well, to try and find performance as possible, that’s what we are paid for.”
Yuki Tsunoda: “Yeah, I don’t think there’s much to say. I appreciate how Christian supported me in various places. Also, I got a message from him yesterday to show what you can do. It was a nice message. With Laurent, I’ve known him since VCARB and we’ve worked really well. We had a good start of the year in terms of performance. We had a lot of trust between us so I’m looking forward to working with him. And Alan, I just met him in, congrats, I got a message as well. He’s definitely motivated. I’m excited to see how he’s going to do in Racing Bulls. So far, I mean, he’s just joined in middle of the season. He’s had two weeks, so I don’t think he’s changed anything. Probably he will see the next few races and see what he can do. At least we know we have a good relationship. I can chat and I don’t have to really adapt to the relationship which is good. I just came into the paddock with him and had a normal conversation. It feels like back to VCARB but it’s not.
“It’s a different journey so it’s cool. Definitely, I didn’t expect [for him to go], so it was surprising for me. In terms of Laurent, it’s such a big change because in the last 20 years since, Red Bull started with Christian, they always worked with Christian. I think it’s a big change for the team. To be honest, I still don’t understand the full story about the Red Bull Racing. It is not that I’ve been here for a long time and I know about Red Bull Racing, so I can’t say everything. I’m sure he can bring something that he found in VCARB and bring some benefits and positives that he’s done in the last two years, into Red Bull. It’s good to have a third perspective, another person come in, I was the first to come in and see some new perspectives and angles. Let’s see how he’s going to approach it into the scene. At the same time, we have a lot of good people already. They know what they’re doing. I have a lot of trust in them as well. For them as well, Laurent is not so much in the group, I don’t know. I think he’ll just see the next few races and see how he’s going to bring something from his eyes. I think so, yeah, I agree.
“I wouldn’t say at the same time Christian didn’t know anything. He knows a lot about cars and he still gets a lot of feedback from drivers. But yeah, definitely, Laurent also used to be an engineer. That’s one of his strengths. He was consistently trying to understand what the current limitation is every single session afterwards. He was directly contacting the areas, some parts that were weak at, directly from the team members. Those very reactiveness, the reactions, and also getting specific feedback, understanding from his engineering side as well, was pretty strong. I’m sure he will do the same here and I’m sure he will do well. About Christian, I got information from Helmut on that day. Pretty much I can say on that, I’m just focused on driving. It’s not a part that has to be evolved. I still have to focus more. It was said by Helmut on that day.”
Alexander Albon: “I was [surprised]. Obviously he is someone who has helped me a lot in my career. He’s been in the sport for a long time with a lot of success, so you could say he built that team up. So to see him go, obviously…it is a first time. I mean, obviously I joined quite late into the Christian Horner kind of era, let’s say. On my side, it was clear that he had his people, and he brought everyone up together. I think that there were a lot of long-standing members at Red Bull who were there for a long time and still are to this day as well. He seemed to have a good knack for finding the right people and then building a good circle around and they seemed to chip away at it, and very quickly get to the top. And I guess that’s a part of his success.”
Isack Hadjar: “Major [change], but it doesn’t really change much for me, at the moment, at the minute. Me too, yes I did [find out in the morning of release]. I was in the factory in the sim, so I was there. I mean, a bit of if anything for the engineers and mechanics, I think Laurent was really appreciated in the team, so bit of sadness, obviously. But no, we are not as concerned as Red Bull Racing. So nothing major, it’s just a bit sad that he’s leaving, but that’s how it is. He’s French – that was good. To me it is always useful to work with someone who has an engineering background, as a driver it is always more helpful. So, yeah, we were really close together, he’s still around, so it okay. In terms of Christian, to be fair, I was always closer to – in a way – Helmut. It was always very brief with Christian, if I had to jump in the car, I would spend more time with him but, yeah, it was always with Helmut when I was progressing through the ranks. No, I haven’t [spoken to Helmut about Christian].
“For future, I guess if I had to work with him, [Laurent at Red Bull] it would be easier, that’s for sure. More familiar. So, yeah, I would say so. I can’t hide, it’s useful. 12 more races. So, yeah, I need to keep pushing. You’re as good as your last race at all times. As for Alan, he is someone I know really well. We’ve worked… he was always quiet and you don’t see him often, but he’s a big part of the team so far. I think he’s the one next to my race engineer, the one I’ve worked with the most. He’s the guy who takes the final decision on car set-up. He’s been very close to Laurent. Laurent has built something very solid over the last two years, and now he’s just taking it. So yeah, it doesn’t change anything to the team and to my approach. Bringing new to the team would have been different. But honestly, we had a chat this morning, I am not saying this to lie but it doesn’t change anything to how we go around.”
Liam Lawson: “I think it doesn’t change too much for me. Obviously, as a driver, we have enough to think about, especially this year, it has been a very busy year for me. So at this point, things have been pretty good for us recently. The car has been performing well and our speed has been good, so we’re just focused on repeating that. The changes don’t really do much. They don’t change too much. Honestly, at this point, it is hard to say, I think. For the team having somebody like Laurent coming in is great. I mean Laurent is someone who has done amazing things for our team and he is somebody I have really enjoyed working with. I think he brings a lot with him to Red Bull Racing. Having his presence [at VCARB] has been very-very nice, he has stalled well within Red Bull family and for Alan, he’s somebody in the team now for a couple of years, and somebody that is well suited for this position and has a relationship with everybody.
“It is very motivated as well to carry on, sort of bonds form, with what he was doing, we are all very excited for that. I don’t think we’ve lost anything with regards to Alan filling his position. But something that Laurent has been very, very good at is leading the team and having everybody around him, and having the motivation very high and the work ethic very high in the team. He was very, very good at that. He worked very, very hard. On a Thursday, every single race weekend he’s here on a Thursday, probably one of the first guys to arrive normally, and to show sort of everybody in the team that it’s very important. It is hard to pick one thing, he (Alan) worked very closely with Laurent, they both have engineering minds, they both worked as engineers in the past and Laurent probably has more experience in that position but Alan’s work alongside him for couple of years. So, for Alan it is going to be…I am sure he has learnt a lot, obviously watching Laurent working with him. And I think he will probably be trying just to continue on that form of approach that Laurent has in the past two years. As for the news, probably, [I found out] the same as everybody else, in the media, I don’t remember when it was announced, but I found out afterwards.
“Yes, I would say, it wasn’t something we expected, but obviously things change in Formula 1, and it was surprising having these changes, but it doesn’t really change too much from my point of view what I’m trying to achieve and what I am working on. Talking with Christian, yeah, it was just after text, briefly. It was definitely tough to go through, and I feel like I made it pretty clear that I didn’t think it was the right thing to do. But it is a professional relationship, and when we’re working here, it is all very professional, and for that, it didn’t change too much. We didn’t have too much time to really think about things, and I was straight into another race weekend, and felt like its been like since, honestly, it feels like there hasn’t been too much time to sit back and think about everything, so it is probably a good thing. I don’t think it has changed too much.”
Carlos Sainz: “Yeah. He’s, I think, an extremely good professional. My time in Ferrari when he [Laurent] was there, I found someone that was incredibly hardworking. He understood very well the driver. He had a special feeling and a special communication with drivers, which I think makes things for the driver very comfortable and very open. Since his time in the FIA, then Ferrari, now Visa [Cash App RB], and now coming in Red Bull—he has plenty of experience to lead one of the biggest teams in Formula 1. I think he’s honestly the perfect fit for that team. So, congrats to him—probably he deserves that upgrade or that step up. I think he’s going to enjoy it.”
Pierre Gasly: “I think his qualities are undoubtable because when you’ve got the number of championships he’s had in 20 years of career, you can only respect all the success with the team, and what he’s done with Red Bull Racing over there, it’s very remarkable and very impressive. For sure, he is very, very good at what he’s been doing with the team. I’m sure we’re going to see him somewhere because with that sort of experience and skills, I’m sure some teams will be interested in Christian. Obviously, I was closer to Helmut just from the fact that it’s more the link between the drivers. Helmut came to coach me when I was 17. I signed a contract with him. I got to know Christian a bit later through the process and being part of the academy side. Less contact with him, but still some and for sure he has been doing very well with Red Bull.”
Lewis Hamilton: “I wasn’t really—when I’m away from the race weekends, I don’t really pay attention to anything that’s going on in Formula 1 other than what’s happening within our team. So, I was neither surprised or not surprised. I was just minding my own business. And of course, I think when you change CEO or someone that’s running an organisation, they come with their own formula and more often than not, make changes. So that’s inevitable—but that takes time. That doesn’t change anything in my life. What to say? The team has been—it’s been incredible to see the progress. I remember sitting with Christian back in 2005?
“I remember sitting in his office in GP2. Well, I was in Formula 3, but looking to go into GP2 for his first year. I think he was at Arden or something. I wouldn’t say we hit it off from the get-go! But to see his progression and career—it’s been clearly remarkable what he did with the team. With a huge group of amazing people, to really run an organisation that big and that well takes talent and skill. And that’s what he brought to the team. So, I wish him all the best.”
Oscar Piastri: “Yeah, I learned [about it] like everyone else. It doesn’t obviously affects me at all. But, obviously, a change for Red Bull. I think Christian achieved a lot with the team in terms of championships and whatever else, but for me, it really doesn’t affect much. I didn’t spend much time thinking about it and obviously a bit of a surprise, I guess, [since it is] a big change but no affect on me.”
Fernando Alonso: “Yeah. It’s great to see. Obviously, I worked with the three of them. And with Alan, particularly — I worked two times with him, also when I came back to Alpine. So, yeah, happy for them, happy for him. They have a lot of experience, but also, they have maybe the leadership capacity and qualities that you need these days. With Jonathan it’s well known, but I think with Steve and Alan it will be a good thing for them and a good thing for the team as well.”
Nico Hulkenberg: “Yeah, some time at Renault. Obviously, [Alan] has been around so long, so much experience — so, great opportunity for him to put that all to work. Happy for him and wish him best of luck.”
Esteban Ocon: “I think it is fantastic that Alan is promoted to this position, I am very happy for him. Alan has a huge experience in Formula 1. It is crazy sometimes when you talk to him about stories of late 80s or 90s, he’s been there forever, basically. It is insane. It is actually quite a surprise that he wasn’t appointed to one of these positions earlier, so yeah, really happy for him and I wish him all the best.”
Here’s Liam Lawson on reputation
Here’s Yuki Tsunoda on his situation
Here’s Max Verstappen on Sebastian Vettel, Sergio Perez
Here’s Laurent Mekies at Red Bull
Here’s Christian Horner on time with Red Bull