Laurent Mekies dismisses Christian Horner’s Red Bull claims over team spirit

Laurent Mekies dismissed Christian Horner’s claim that Red Bull have “lost their mojo” since his departure.

The Frenchman replaced Horner at the helm of the Milton Keynes-based team after the 52-year-old was sacked following a trophy-laden 20-year spell in charge in July last year.

Red Bull ensured a tough start to the season under the sport’s new regulations, but have made strides forward in recent races, with Max Verstappen winning back-to-back rounds in Malaysia and Singapore.

As part of his recent book promotion, Horner claimed that the team vibe is not the same since he departed.

“Christian is entitled to his opinion. He obviously spent a lot of time in this team,” Mekies said during this weekend’s race in Mexico City.

“I respect his point of view. We certainly feel extremely differently about the vibe in the team.

“I think one of the strong points we’ve been drawing on, certainly in the last few months, is the incredible team spirit that has allowed us to come back from an objectively very difficult moment.

“We certainly had a challenging first part of the year, chassis side and power unit side, and the way the team stuck together, the way the team set the Milton Keynes department on fire to try to come back, and the way they have done that… I think that’s the Red Bull spirit.”

Red Bull are using their own power trains for the first time this season, the culmination of a five-year project launched in 2021 and overseen by Horner until his departure.

Their engine has been ranked by the FIA as the best on the grid and the team are beginning to reap the reward.

Red Bull sit joint-third in the constructors’ standings, locked on points with McLaren, but 252 points adrift of runaway leaders Mercedes.

While heartened by their progress, Mekies is determined to kick the team forward to being back in championship contention.

“It’s always one thing to have a positive spirit when you are winning races. It’s something else to have that same fighting spirit and unity between the team members when you are put under pressure,” Mekies added.

“That’s certainly how we feel we need to go racing. The guys got the rewards they deserved with the turnaround that they have produced, which is, I think, very remarkable.

“But, ultimately, we are well aware that we live and die with our results. The target is not to win one race or two races.

“The target is to be back to world titles and, until we are there, nobody will feel we have achieved anything.”