Former F1 boss reveals Horner 'turmoil' and what changed at Red Bull

A former F1 boss has opened up on Red Bull's new era, stating that they are now a calmer team following the 'turmoil' that Christian Horner brought.

Horner was axed from his role as team principal back in July 2025, having held the position for 20 years since the team's inception in the sport back in 2005.

It means that 2026 is the first season since they arrived on the grid that they are heading into a season with somebody other than Horner at the helm.

And that person is Laurent Mekies, who was promoted up from his role at Racing Bulls to replace Horner, overseeing an upturn in results at the back end of 2025.

Star driver Max Verstappen was able to claim six of the final nine grands prix wins in the season, and narrowly missed out on the title by two points, while Red Bull finished third in the constructors' championship.

Now, former Haas boss Guenther Steiner has said that, while not all of Red Bull's upturn in form can be accredited to Mekies, the Frenchman did make a difference in terms of the atmosphere within the outfit.

"I think that would be reading too much into it," Steiner told Krone when asked if it was mainly down to Mekies replacing Horner. "Sure, Mekies has brought calm after the Horner turmoil - but the car's performance was certainly there before, because Laurent can't make a car fast in two weeks, he's not that good.

"But the additional calm alone has made a big difference. It certainly helped Max Verstappen that there wasn't excitement surrounding the team at every race. The whole team was finally able to concentrate on the essentials again."

Will Mekies appointment enable Red Bull to keep Verstappen?

Having had the same boss at Red Bull since he joined the team in 2016, four-time champion Verstappen might have been shocked to find out he would have to work under somebody different.

But the team's upturn in form, and the added calmness around the outfit, would have given him some confidence that Red Bull are not too far behind McLaren heading into the regulations reset.

However, those new regulations could see a complete shake up of the competitive order in F1, and Red Bull may struggle to challenge for the championship in the immediate future, especially with them moving into a new era of power unit production.

Mekies will be hoping to convince Verstappen to stay during their rebuilding phase, and the Dutchman may be more encouraged now that the outfit has had a real shake up in personnel.

But the general feeling is that Verstappen will use 2026 to see which team have mastered the new regulations before ultimately making any decisions on his long-term future.

READ MORE: Emotional goodbye issued to Max Verstappen ahead of 2026 switch

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