Key Max Verstappen ally's F1 exit a "defining moment" for Red Bull

Laurent Mekies faces a "defining moment” in his Red Bull F1 leadership after the announced exit of Max Verstappen’s key ally, says IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe.

Amid a disappointing start to the 2026 season and constant quit threats from four-time champion Verstappen, Mekies has been battling to steer Red Bull back on track.

This task was made more difficult following the shock announcement that Verstappen’s race engineer and Red Bull head of racing, Gianpiero Lambiase, is set to leave for McLaren in 2028 – the latest in a raft of key personnel to depart, including legendary designer Adrian Newey exiting for Aston Martin.

Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, Hinchcliffe said, “For me, this is a really big test of his ability to pull this team back up. They have the wherewithal, they have the know-how.

“You try to build a team that is well over 1,000 people, not off the back of one or two individuals. But the problem is with this situation, it's four, five or six high-ranking individuals. That’s a big hole in your structure.

“This is where it's going to be a defining moment of Laurent Mekies’ tenure at this team.

“What moves does he make? How does he position the team to get back to that former level of success?”

Red Bull has acted quickly in the wake of its slow start to 2026 to shake up its technical team, promoting Ben Waterhouse to become chief performance and design engineer, a role that will see him report directly to technical director Pierre Wache. These changes, say Red Bull, are aimed at supporting the team’s “long-term technical ambitions”.

When Mekies was drafted in last year from sister team Racing Bulls, the team was in turmoil after long-time boss Christian Horner was sacked from the team principal role.

How the Italian handled that difficult situation, a period when Red Bull was similarly behind the pace-setters McLaren, gives Hinchcliffe hope that a similar turnaround can be achieved once more.

He added, “If you look at when Laurent Mekies came into this team, it was kind of struggling a little bit.

“There were obviously the issues that we know about, and immediately the team's form turned around, not that he took it this way.

“He was very humble in his acknowledgement that any success was in the pipeline, and he's just sort of managing the situation today.

“But you’ve got to enjoy the fruits of the labour and the success in the moment.”