Red Bull shocked the Formula 1 world on July 9 by sacking Christian Horner. Horner, who was at the position for nearly two decades was replaced by Laurent Mekies.

Speaking at a planned filming day with the 2025 car at Silverstone on his first day on the job, Mekies paid tribute to his predecessor and admitted it felt odd to be at Red Bull without Horner there.

After leaving Toro Rosso in 2014, Mekies took up a role within the FIA as safety director before moving into a position as F1’s deputy race director in 2017. One year later, he had been poached by Ferrari, serving as sporting director before an internal promotion to racing director.