Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has detailed how the team has improved its Formula 1 operations since Christian Horner’s dismissal and Laurent Mekies’ appointment.
The Milton-Keynes-based outfit showed Horner the exit door after 20 years with the team, earlier this season.
Mekies’ who had been leading sister team Racing Bulls since the 2024 season was installed as the team’s CEO and Team Principal with immediate effect ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix.
Since then, Max Verstappen has returned to the podium, and bagged the race win at the Italian GP, last weekend.
Marko, who has been touted to be instrumental in Horner’s sacking, has now delivered his verdict on how the former Ferrari man has transformed Red Bull since the Briton’s departure.
“The whole technical team is more open and they discuss things,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“They are not blind to what the simulation says.”
The Austrian also divulged how Mekies’ arrival has coincided with the engineers now giving more credence to driver feedback, especially from the likes of Verstappen.
“The engineers are listening more to the driver. If you have such a fast and experienced driver, I think that’s the right way,” he revealed.
“He has to drive it and it is important that our top speed is improving. We saw we could drive away from the McLarens and also some other changes – the driver’s input was recognised.”
Mekies appointment was the right decision says Marko
The Frenchman had never served as a Team Principal before his stint with the Faenza-based squad. Yet, the upper echelons of Red Bull’s management were convinced that he was the most suited successor to Horner.
Four races into his Red Bull career, Marko is adamant that Mekies has vindicated the team’s call to internally promote him to the top of the main team.
“Appointing him was the right decision,” he told Servus TV.
“Given the complexity of Formula 1, having a technical expert at the top is probably the better solution.
“It’s now much more structured from a technical perspective. And when everything works together, and the driver is integrated into the process, you can see the results. The car isn’t fundamentally different, but with this level of coordination, we can deliver such performances.”
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