Red Bull F1 boss 'couldn’t disagree more' with Christian Horner claims

Red Bull principal Laurent Mekies has strongly refuted claims from the F1’s team’s former boss Christian Horner that the team has “lost its mojo”.

Horner was no stranger to controversy in the F1 paddock, and has picked up where he left off in promoting his new book ‘Driven’.

Now his successor has had a chance to have his say on the headline-grabbing comments.

Red Bull’s Laurent Mekies rejects Horner’s controversial statements

Horner has been working hard on the promotional circuit in recent weeks, giving his typically unfiltered views on both his F1 journey and state of the world championship now - including his former team.

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The Brit’s aggressive approach used to reflect that of the team, with their driver Max Verstappen and its former young driver guru Helmut Marko following suit.

However, following the death of the brand’s CEO Dietrich Mateschitz, new management wanted a less controversial approach in its F1 dealings, and Horner was eventually removed last summer.

Laurent Mekies was promoted from the junior team Racing Bulls to run its main operation, but at first the team suffered a dip in performance towards the end of 2025, which carried on into the start of this year as its ran its own Ford-branded engine for the first time.

The team has adopted a more considered and less aggressive approach to its F1 dealings, with Mekies embodying this, shedding its ‘disruptor’ status.

“If you look at that team 12 months down the line, it’s lost its mojo, its presence, its vibe,” commented Horner recently on developments.

When asked about this in Mexico however, Mekies was in no mood to entertain his former colleague - pointing to recent wins in Malaysia and Singapore.

“He obviously has spent a lot of time in this team, and I respect his his point of view,” said Mekies.

“We certainly feel extremely differently about the vibe in the team. I think one of the strong points we have been enjoying, certainly in the last few months, is the incredible team spirit that has allowed us to come back from an objectively very difficult moment.

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

The Red Bull cars didn’t get anywhere near the podium in the first four races of 2026, with both Verstappen and teammate Hadjar well off the pace.

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However the Dutchman went on a run of six podiums in eight races from mid-season, before grabbing a brace of race wins.

“We certainly had a challenging first part of the year, chassis side and PU 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 is such a constrictively challenging matter - from any of our team members to the brutally calm, the brutally honest comments of our drivers, I think that's the Red Bull spirit," said Mekies.

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

“But you know, ultimately we are well aware that we live and die with our results, and 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.”