Following Christian Horner’s departure from Red Bull and Formula 1, Max Verstappen discussed how the team’s dynamics have changed with Laurent Mekies at the helm.
Horner’s dismissal marked the end of a 20-year leadership in the team. He led the team to eight Driver Championships and six Constructors Championships during his tenure.
For Verstappen, it was Horner’s leadership which led to his rise to four consecutive titles, including the incredible dominance seen in 2023.
However, the Milton Keynes-based team suffered a decline throughout 2024, with Red Bull slipping behind the likes of McLaren and, at times, Ferrari and Mercedes.
Midway through the 2025 season, Horner was dismissed from the team and replaced by Mekies, the team principal of the Racing Bulls.
In the short time under Mekies’ control, Verstappen has praised his “honest” leadership and the different strategy the team has taken since the change.
“It’s been working well so far,” he told Channel 4.
“Now, you’re not going to reinvent the whole car when you just joined with the team.
“And I think Laurent has always been very honest about what he has done, and I like that. He’s just, I would say, one of the guys, we get on, yeah, very well.”
Yet, the Dutchman still emphasised he looks positively back on his time with Horner, notably winning the contentious 2021 title.
“But at the same time, also, before, with Christian at the helm, we achieved so many amazing things together,” he continued. “And honestly, I think the feeling that we had as a team, and how emotional everything was in ’21, winning that championship, that is something that you will remember forever, having lived throughout that whole season.
“And, yeah, it’s a different strategy now in the team. I enjoy working with Laurent, and I’m also very excited for the coming years.”
Verstappen’s approach unchanged since Red Bull revival
Despite Verstappen struggling for the opening half of the 2025 season, he took back-to-back wins in Monza and Baku, as well as a second place in Singapore.
As he tries to get himself back in the championship fight, he admits that he doesn’t feel any weight of expectation from the team that he doesn’t already have on himself.
“I mean, I’m probably the biggest critic of myself anyway, so it doesn’t matter what other people expect from me or whatever,” he expressed.
The Dutchman is slowly closing the gap to the McLaren duo in the championship, though time is running out with six rounds remaining in the current campaign.
He was asked about whether his mindset shifts as he goes from being the hunted to the hunter in the championship.
Yet Verstappen was quick to dismiss any idea that he had changed his approach.
“I go into it [with] exactly the same mindset as when you are, yeah, the hunted, or now the hunter, or whatever you call it, you know,” he answered.
“I prefer to keep it simple, I mean, the car has a throttle pedal, brake pedal, and a steering wheel, and that’s what I have to deal with.”
“You can also overcomplicate things, a lot,” said Verstappen. “I mean, there are a lot of people that try to over complicate a lot of stuff in racing. You just need to try and keep it simple.”
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