Christian Horner's successor likened to top McLaren boss: "He can build a team"

Ex-F1 driver Ralf Schumacher has likened new Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies to McLaren team principal Andrea Stella.

Mekies is Red Bull’s new team principal after the team parted ways with Christian Horner last week.

Mekies had been Racing Bulls (formerly AlphaTauri) team boss since 2024.

The Italian has a wealth of experience in F1, starting at Arrows and having roles at Ferrari.

Mekies also worked for the FIA between 2014 and 2018 as their safety director and then deputy race director.

Schumacher believes Mekies’ background will make him a successful Red Bull team principal.

The German also sees similarities between Mekies and Stella, who has guided McLaren back to the top of F1 in recent years.

“First of all, the ambition, you can see that with Stella and Mekies, [they] have that too, and the experience,” Schumacher said.

“Where does that come from? In this case, he also went through the entire paddock, even in the smaller teams.

“He was with Minardi for a long time, then in AlphaTauri, and then Ferrari.
“And you have to give him credit, he had his heart in the right place.

“That’s another issue, what the use is if you’re the king, but you don’t have any subjects who want to work with you, to put it exaggeratedly.

“He has that, and he’s just good at it; he can do that. He can catch people, he can bring people together.

“He can build a team, and that is so crucial in Formula 1. It really is just teamwork at the end of the day, and I think Red Bull made a great decision.”

Can Mekies hold on to Verstappen?

One of Mekies’ biggest tasks as Red Bull boss will be trying to keep Max Verstappen at the team.

While Verstappen’s current Red Bull deal runs out at the end of 2028, he’s been heavily linked with a switch to Mercedes.

George Russell and Kimi Antonelli are out of contract at the end of this year.

Both drivers have insisted they’re confident of sticking with Mercedes in 2026.

It’s a topic that Mekies will have to continue to address during his first weeks in charge of Red Bull.