Mekies puts Red Bull’s people at the heart of its rebuild

A people-first approach to rebuilding Red Bull

Laurent Mekies has placed Red Bull’s people at the centre of his efforts to steady and strengthen the Formula 1 team, according to the team’s account of his first year in charge.

Mekies took over from Christian Horner last summer. Horner had been the only other leader of Red Bull’s factory team since its debut in 2005. The team was then described as being in a period of flux, with instability across several areas and concern that its unsettled foundations could put its most valuable asset, Max Verstappen, at risk of leaving.

Rather than treating the challenge as solely a matter of results, Mekies focused on listening to staff and placing people in the right roles. That work over the past 12 months has been part of a wider effort to build a more stable base and return Red Bull to the top.

The account presents that focus on people and organisational stability as an early marker of Mekies’ leadership, and as the foundation for the team’s future under his direction.