Marko details improvements at Red Bull since Mekies became F1 boss

Helmut Marko has heaped praise on the impact Laurent Mekies has had since becoming the Red Bull Formula 1 team boss. 

The Frenchman joined from sister squad Racing Bulls in July after his predecessor Christian Horner was sacked following 20 years in the role. 

It came after a performance decline for Red Bull, which since cruising to the 2023 title has slipped to fourth in the pecking order behind McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes.

Red Bull has improved in the four grands prix since Mekies joined though, having claimed a podium through Max Verstappen in the previous two races including a win last time out at Monza, plus Verstappen’s sprint win in Belgium.

So, speaking after the Italian GP, Red Bull’s motorsport adviser Marko revealed his delight at the changes made by Mekies, particularly on the technical side of which the team boss has a long history in having been a race engineer at Minardi in the early 2000s. 

“The whole technical team is more open and they discuss things,” said Marko. “They are not blind to what the simulation says.”

This includes more reliance on driver feedback, as it is understood certain members of the team wanted a higher downforce set-up for the Italian GP – much to Verstappen’s disliking.

So the four-time world champion pushed against a set-up change and Verstappen eventually got his wish, leading to him dominating from pole ahead of both McLarens in second and third. 

“The engineers are listening more to the driver. If you have such a fast and experienced driver, I think that’s the right way,” added Marko.

“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.”

The appointment of Mekies as Red Bull boss follows a recent trend of F1 teams appointing ex-engineers ahead of the regulation switch in 2026. 

Last year, Haas replaced Guenther Steiner with erstwhile trackside engineering director Ayao Komatsu, leading McLaren is former Ferrari engineer Andrea Stella, while Mekies’ successor at Racing Bulls is ex-Renault race engineer Alan Permane. 

James Vowles, Team Principal of Williams and Alan Permane, Team Principal of Visa Cash App Racing Bulls talk on the drivers parade.

Photo by: Mark Thompson – Getty Images

It shows a trend of moving away from the all-encompassing, business-like leaders such as Horner, with Mekies in charge of leading Red Bull into the new era which will include using an in-house power unit for the first time since the Austrian outfit joined F1 in 2005. 

“Appointing him was the right decision,” Marko 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.”

Marko is more optimistic for the final eight rounds of the 2025 campaign, which starts with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix before heading to Singapore – a venue Verstappen is still yet to win at. 

“With the speed we’ve shown, we should hopefully be able to compete on our own merit at almost every circuit,” added Marko on Servus TV. “Singapore would be special – it’s the only race we’ve never won. But maybe it’ll work out there too; we weren’t bad in Zandvoort [Verstappen finished second] either.

“We’re still fine-tuning and refining things. If we can keep improving like this, that would be fantastic. The championship is gone, but a few more wins would be very nice.”