Laurent Mekies’s arrival follows a period of upheaval at Red Bull, beginning with accusations of sexual harassment and coercive controlling behavior against Christian Horner by a female employee.

Internal investigations dismissed the allegations against Horner, who has consistently denied the claims.

This period also saw the departures of chief technical officer Adrian Newey, sporting director Jonathan Wheatley, and the resignation of head of strategy Will Courtenay, who is contracted to Red Bull but heading to McLaren.

“You do not see witnesses,” Mekies said. “You see a lot of desire from everyone to get that Red Bull energy,to perhaps to reduce the noise outside,just to concentrate on racing. That’s what you see and that’s what we are going to try to do together.”

Mekies stated that he has not encountered any negativity from Red Bull personnel following the exit of their leader of two decades.

“Everybody has been incredibly supportive,” he said. “Willing to open the door, willing to speak, to listen, what were the limitations, what were the strengths, how do we go next about going back to the racetrack and fighting at an even higher level tomorrow? That’s what I hope.”

Horner’s support

Mekies also noted that Horner, who played a key role in Mekies’s appointment to his previous position as head of Red Bull’s secondary team, has been “nothing else than supportive, which is very impressive in the context”.

“Everybody has been incredibly supportive…how do we go next about going back to the racetrack and fighting at an even higher level tomorrow? That’s what I hope.”

Wheatley’s Perspective

wheatley, present at the same press conference as Mekies in his capacity as team principal of Sauber/Audi, commented: “laurent is an incredibly impressive person. He’s been a friend of mine for a really long time and he has a wonderful way of managing people.”

He added, “The team principal’s role is very much to motivate the team, to put the right people in the right positions and give them the best opportunities and the tools thay need to do the job.I have no doubt whatsoever that Laurent is going to excel in that particular regard.”