Christijan Albers has praised the appointment of Laurent Mekies as the successor to Red Bull’s dismissed team boss and CEO, Christian Horner, calling it a “bullseye”. “I’m a fan of him, he’s the right choice,” said the former F1 driver who worked closely with the Frenchman at Minardi, where Mekies was his race engineer.
Yesterday marked an abrupt end to Christian Horner’s twenty-year tenure at Red Bull Racing. The team boss and CEO was dismissed. Disappointing results, accusations of sexual misconduct, an internal power struggle, staff attrition, and a toxic team atmosphere ultimately cost the Brit his position.
“Things slipped out of his hands,” asserts Christijan Albers. “I don’t want to downplay Horner, as he built the team from the ground up and achieved a lot of success, but in recent years he did everything to maintain his position. It became more about his own position than the team. Horner let Rob Marshall go, things didn’t work out with Adrian Newey, and he offered Sergio Pérez a contract extension that ultimately cost the team a lot of money. In addition, the results have not been good and there is the question of what Max Verstappen is going to do. I understand that at some point the top management says: enough is enough.”
‘A Fan of Mekies’
With the appointment of Mekies, Red Bull gains a team boss and CEO who, according to Albers, operates very differently from his British predecessor. “I am a fan of him for several reasons,” admits the former driver, “and I find him the ideal man. I have worked with many engineers, but Mekies is truly good. His technical knowledge is immense, in all areas. He has grown step by step: also through his work at the FIA and later Ferrari. We are twenty years on from Minardi and now he is the boss of one of the biggest Formula 1 teams. I think he is the right choice.”
What Albers particularly appreciates about his old race engineer are his human skills. “Mekies is open, honest, calm, empathetic, always polite, and has norms and values. You can always turn to him and that creates trust. I hope he gets the time to ensure that the people in the team start feeling happy again and he can start building. Because he will certainly need a few months to get to know everyone. This is quite a task.”
Incidentally, Christijan Albers does not think that Max Verstappen would be the driving force behind Horner’s departure, as is being suggested here and there. “I don’t believe that Max said: it’s him out or me out. That’s not his style. I do think that he made it clear that things need to change. Red Bull is nowhere without Max, which is not how it should be in a top team. The arrival of Mekies will be a boost for Red Bull. The positive thing is that he is both team boss and CEO. Great, because if anyone knows what they’re doing, it’s him.”
