Who is Laurent Mekies?

Will Laurent Mekies save Red Bull from its downfall?

(photo credit to Autosport)

Who is Laurnet Mekies? Laurent Mekies is a French motorsport executive, administrator, and engineer who joined Formula 1 with the now-defunct Arrows team as an engine engineer. 

In 2006, He was appointed chief engineer at Toro Rosso and subsequently became the head of Vehicle Performance. He joined the FIA in 2014 as the safety director and became Deputy Race Director in 2017. He played a key role as the safety director, introducing innovations like the Halo. 

Mekies, who switched from FIA safety director to Ferrari in 2018, was appointed sporting director. The following year, in 2019, Mekies was given the opportunity to take the position of head of track and performance. Two years later, in 2021, he became Ferrari's new racing director. During his time at Ferrari, the Team secured seven race wins, accumulating 2,717 points throughout his six years with the Team. It was announced that Mekies was parting ways with Ferrari to leave for the then-called AlphaTauri. Midway through the 2023 season, it was announced that the move would be for the 2024 season.

At the start of the 2024 season, Visa Cash App RB -the junior team for Red Bull Racing- had a difficult start to the season. Building their new identity under Racing Bulls, their mid-season performance became rocky, causing them to face great backlash from fans. This was especially high after the team failed to farewell Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo when he was dropped from the Red Bull family after his 13-year commitment to them as both a junior development driver and a Formula 1 driver.

(photo credit to Motors Inside)

2025 season rolls around and Laurent Mekies is still the Team principal for Red Bull’s junior team, until, a week after the British GP, it was announced that Christian Horner was sacked from his role of Team principal with immediate effect. Horner was the principal for 20 years, since the beginning of Red Bull Racing. In those 20 years, he managed to turn the fresh team into something amazing, achieving 107 pole positions, 124 race wins, 287 podiums, six Constructor Championships and eight World Driver Championships wins.

Laurent Mekies is now the new Team principal for Oracle Red Bull Racing. Meanwhile, Alan Permane becomes the new Team principal at Racing Bulls. Mekies' first weekend as Team Principal for RB, the Belgian GP,  was successful. The Sprint Race was dominated by Max Verstappen, securing the Sprint Race win, and Yuki Tsunoda finished 11th; however, for the race on Sunday, Verstappen finished 4th and Tsunoda finished 11th again. Verstappen, on his own, scored 20 points, keeping him 3rd in the drivers' standings. Overall, it was a good weekend for the start of Laurent Mekies' career as Red Bull Team Principal, but will he be able to turn the team around and have 2 drivers fighting the McLaren's instead of one? 

What will we see next from Laurent Mekies?

Written By Jessica Livingstone