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Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Red Bull confirm another major F1 leadership change after Christian Horner exit
Laurent Mekies is the new Red Bull F1 team principal and chief executive after Christian Horner was removed from those roles, and Helmut Marko has broken his silence on the change Red Bull have confirmed that new team principal Laurent Mekies will have "significantly reduced" responsibilities compared to predecessor Christian Horner. The Frenchman is the new man in charge at the Formula 1 team after the main Red Bull company announced Horner's exit last week. Neither the team nor its parent company have offered any reasons for the sudden management change publicly. But long-serving adviser Helmut Marko has now confirmed that "various factors" were behind the decision, most notably the team's decline in performance. "The decision was made by [chief executive of Red Bull corporate projects] Oliver Mintzlaff", the Austrian said of Horner's demise. "We informed Christian Horner of this on Tuesday in London after the Silverstone race. "At the same time, we officially thanked him for these 20 years and for these eight World Championship titles. This was the result of various factors, but above all, the performance wasn't quite as good as it could have been." Horner's position had long been under scrutiny, having lost the trust of Red Bull chiefs in Austria some time ago. He was protected by majority shareholder Chalerm Yoovidhya who gave the Brit his backing, until recently, which was the major change behind the scenes that facilitated the change of leadership. Horner had served not only as team principal but also chief executive. Austrian Red Bull officials were understood to have been uncomfortable with the amount of power wielded by Horner after 20 years in charge. Marko went on to confirm that, although Mekies also holds both TP and CEO titles, he will not be as omnipotent as Horner once was. "Fortunately, we were able to bring Laurent Mekies into the family. His responsibilities will be significantly reduced, with the main focus being on racing," he added. Mekies has admitted that his main priority in his new role is to ensure that the team keeps hold of its star asset. Max Verstappen has been strongly linked with a move to rivals Mercedes – speculation which has only intensified since Horner's exit. And the new chief is focused on making Red Bull as competitive and attractive as possible to give them the best chance of convincing the Dutchman to stay. Mekies said: "I'm sure Max wants a fast car and if we get him a fast car, I'm sure it's cancelling out all the other considerations. "So really the focus is very much to try to get to know the team as quickly as possible in order to see how we can support, how we can build the next step of competitiveness in order to get a fast car and hence to make it an easy call for Max."
The 42
2 hours ago
- The 42
Lando Norris claims pole for Belgian Grand Prix
LANDO NORRIS RESISTED mounting pressure from his McLaren team-mate and series leader Oscar Piastri to take pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix. The 25-year-old Briton, whose mother Cisca is Belgian, shrugged aside concerns over his struggles on Friday to clock a best lap in one minute and 40.562 seconds, beating Australian Piastri by 0.085 seconds as McLaren reeled off a convincing front row lock-out. It was his fourth pole this year and the 13th of his career. Charles Leclerc qualified third with a late improved lap enabling him to overhaul defending world champion Max Verstappen's best effort for Red Bull. Alex Albon was fifth for Williams ahead of Mercedes' George Russell, Yuki Tsunoda in the second Red Bull, Racing Bulls' rookies Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson and Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto. Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton failed to make it out of the Q1 session for Ferrari and will start Sunday's 44-lap race from 16th on the grid in the company of Mercedes' mercurial rookie Kimi Antonelli, who was 18th and two-time champion Fernando Alonso 19th for Aston Martin. After victories in Austria and Britain, Norris will be seeking a third consecutive win to overhaul Piastri's nine-point lead in the title race. 'It was a decent lap and I'm happy,' said Norris. 'Everyone was a bit worried after yesterday, but I wasn't that far off. 'There were just a few little issues we had. I was confident that I could get back to the top.' Piastri, who had been faster than Norris in Friday's action, said: 'It's a bit disappointing. The second lap was coming together well and then I made a mistake into turn 14 and I lost a lot of time. The car was very good again, but it's about fine margins.' Advertisement Leclerc said he was surprised by his time. 'I didn't expect it. We thought we were a lot more behind. We thought we had something more in the car with the upgrade, but it was a good lap. It takes time to maximise those upgrades.' After a masterclass from Verstappen in the sprint race earlier, Red Bull chose to change his 'skinny' rear wing to a bigger high-downforce version in anticipation of Sunday bringing heavy rain to the sweeping Ardennes circuit. Norris found his pace to clock 1:41.010, six-tenths better than the Ferrari, followed by Piastri two-tenths down in second, the pair showing McLaren's intent under grey skies before a frantic finale during which Hamilton found a late survival lap which was promptly deleted for exceeding track limits. That left Gabriel Bortoleto 15th for Sauber and eliminated the Ferrari driver along with Alpine's Franco Colapinto, Mercedes' rookie Antonelli, who replaced Hamilton, and the two Aston Martins of Alonso and Lance Stroll. Q2 began with everyone on softs and Verstappen fastest, trimming Norris's time, before Piastri and Norris took over for the opening runs. The Dutchman chose not to run again, leaving the usual suspects a clear run to the top-ten shootout while the Haas pair Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman exited along with Alpine's Pierre Gasly, Hulkenberg and Sainz. Russell, who was stripped of victory last year because of an underweight car, was first out for Q3, but it was Verstappen again on top before the McLarens flexed their muscle, Norris beating Piastri by 0.189 on their first runs. Verstappen's final run on fresh softs was not enough to resist an improved lap from Leclerc as Piastri also failed to improve, leaving Norris to claim pole position. 'Oh my god, that was really, really bad' said Verstappen, as a rise in track temperature beyond 40 degrees subdued his performance. – © AFP 2025
Newsweek
2 hours ago
- Newsweek
Max Verstappen Assesses First Race Without Christian Horner and GP Lambiase
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Red Bull Racing Formula One driver Max Verstappen has opened up on his first race weekend with new CEO and team principal Laurent Mekies after his Belgian Grand Prix sprint race victory. Verstappen also revealed his experience of working with interim race engineer Simon Rennie, since his full-time race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase (GP), was away for personal reasons. The sprint race marked Verstappen and Red Bull's first race without ousted team principal Christian Horner. Mekies replaced Horner after the British Grand Prix. Lambiase is absent for this weekend, and it is unclear if he will return for the following weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix. Rennie, who has been the race engineer for Daniel Ricciardo in the past and is Red Bull's group leader of simulation engineering, will take over Lambiase's duties in supporting Verstappen. Speaking about the big change in the team's leadership, the Dutchman was asked after the sprint race about the change he felt so far, and about his experience with Rennie. He told the media: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing and Laurent Mekies, Team Principal of Oracle Red Bull Racing talk in the garage during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Belgium at... Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing and Laurent Mekies, Team Principal of Oracle Red Bull Racing talk in the garage during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Belgium at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on July 25, 2025 in Spa, Belgium. More"I mean, it's very difficult to, within two weeks, you know, suddenly say like, a lot of things need to change out of the blue. It's about starting the relationship and just understanding how everyone is operating. "And then at one point, you know, you come to conclusions and maybe you want to change something and this is something that will happen over the coming weeks, months. "So it's, it's really early days, but so far, you know, he's very keen and very motivated, and that's exactly, I think, what you want also, and I got on very well with him, you know, so yeah, it's been a very good start." Moving on to Rennie, the four-time champion continued said: "And also with Simon, I mean, he has a lot of racing experience already and, of course, he's been part of the team already for a very long time. Of course, the last few years not anymore in a race engineer role, but he steps in and he's immediately on it. So also again, very enjoyable to work with Simon." Mekies is said to be starting a new era at Red Bull, considering the team was led by Horner for 20 years. Verstappen said that regardless of who leads the team, he will continue to give his best on the racetrack. He said: "I mean, the team can always count on me — I will always give my very best, you know, whoever is in charge. And yeah, they know that I'm never holding back or anything. "I'm always trying to give them the best possible result, and that's also what they pay me for. And yeah, for sure, it's positive. We need, of course, positive energy, and yeah, that's a great start for us."
