Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies vows to maintain team's aggressive approach to competition in post-Christian Horner era
Laurent Mekies had a successful first half-year in charge of Red Bull after replacing Christian Horner; he insists the team will remain aggressive with their approach under his leadership; watch every round of the 2026 Formula 1 season, live on Sky Sports F1
Tuesday 16 December 2025 20:04, UK
Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies said his team will push Formula 1's rules "to the limit and sometimes beyond" as he insisted the Milton Keynes squad will remain aggressive under his leadership.
Mekies made an impressive start to his tenure after replacing Christian Horner in July, overseeing an upturn in results that enabled Max Verstappen to come within two points of pulling off a historic title battle comeback.
Under Horner, who had been in charge of the team since it joined the grid in 2005, Red Bull developed a reputation for particularly fierce competitiveness, while the Brit himself was engaged in several feuds with rival team bosses.
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Having worked across several teams - including Ferrari - and even for the governing body, the FIA, during his 25 years in Formula 1, Mekies is a popular figure with strong relationships all over the paddock, which has led some to assume Red Bull's style may change with him in charge.
When it was put to Mekies after the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that the team had been "on the edge" in terms of fairness in the past, he replied: "I don't know if you want to call it the edge or not.
"I think we had a very strong fight, but we had a fair and clean fight (with McLaren). And it's the way we go racing, we push everything to the limit. But we certainly respect the competition.
"But make no mistake, everything is pushed to the limit and sometimes beyond. But when it comes to sporting fairness and respecting the competitions, we think we can do both, being at the very limit and being respectful of the competition.
"Sport is a battle between giants, and we feel very strongly in that fight, and we respect our competitors."
'2025 turnaround was sensational'
Verstappen, who was seeking a fifth successive drivers' title in 2025, had won just two of the opening 12 races of the season when Mekies took over following the British Grand Prix.
The first couple of races under Mekies' leadership proved challenging, but Verstappen would then finish on the podium in all 10 races after the summer break, winning six of them.
While the upturn in form cannot be solely credited to Mekies, given crucial upgrades that were added to the car for September's Italian Grand Prix would have been planned long before his arrival, Verstappen said during the final weeks of the season that the Frenchman's technical background had made a difference.
From Mekies' perspective, he is pleased that the team can go into a new era of chassis and engine regulations confident in their ability to deliver a winning car for Verstappen.
"If you look back to the season, I truly think the turnaround was sensational," he said. "The girls and the guys back at home should be proud of what has been achieved.
"I don't think it happened very often in the last few years or decades, and that's what we look at.
"It allows us to go into the winter with a level of confidence in our tools, in our methodologies, in our approaches that is important.
"Some of that we will be able to carry on to next year's regulations. Some of that will become less relevant."
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