Red Bull Racing team principal Laurent Mekies has issued a defiant statement on his team's troubled start to the 2026 Formula 1 season, refusing to accept the suggestion that the four-time constructors' champions are simply riding out a transition year.
Speaking on F1's Beyond The Grid podcast, the Frenchman who replaced Christian Horner at the helm of the Milton Keynes operation rejected any notion that the team is conserving energy for a future fight, insisting instead that every department remains in attack mode despite Red Bull currently sitting fourth in the constructors' standings — a long way from the dominance the team enjoyed throughout the previous regulation cycle.
"We try to do everything we can to make sure this is not a transition year despite the size of the challenge, despite the new power unit challenge, despite the challenges you have mentioned. We want to make sure that we are not in a transition year Tom. We are in full attack mode as we said not happy about the starting point," Mekies said.
That starting point has been a sobering one. With Mercedes setting the benchmark and Andrea Kimi Antonelli leading the drivers' championship after two race wins, Red Bull's RB22 has shown clear weaknesses across multiple areas. Mekies, however, refused to identify a single fault line and instead framed the recovery as a wholesale undertaking.
"We think it's 360. So we don't think there is one area or another that is to be focused on. The fact that the power unit is not identified as being a specific weakness but more simply an area like every other area to be improved in order to be at the level of the benchmark which is Mercedes today is already as such an incredible achievement," he explained.
The new team boss also defended one of the most controversial in-season calls of 2025 — Red Bull's decision to keep developing a clearly underperforming chassis rather than divert resources entirely to the new regulations.
"We thought and we still think it was the right thing to do because we felt that turning the page to 26 would have been a little bit of an easy escape and a wishful thinking that next year will be better even though we didn't fully understand what were the limitation of 25. We didn't think it was the right way," Mekies said.
"The truth is Tom nobody wanted to do that in Milton Keynes nobody wanted to turn the page they all wanted to get to the bottom of that 25 car get to the bottom of what didn't work to the level expected and turn things around and yes they knew there would be a price to pay for later. But that's how deep is the fighting spirit in the team," he said.
Mekies, who arrived from Racing Bulls after a long career at Ferrari and the FIA, was effusive in his tribute to predecessor Horner, whose 20-year tenure delivered six constructors' titles and eight drivers' championships.
"At first you need to give a huge credit to Christian. The results speak for themselves. They have been historical and you know Christian was leading that team making it grow and therefore you know hats off to what has been done. I don't think leadership style matters. I think what matters is that as a leader that you take care of your people that you put them in the heart of the project and that you get them the environment for them to express this talent," Mekies said.
His own definition of the role is deliberately stripped back. The Frenchman has built a reputation in the paddock for a calmer, less politically combustible approach than his predecessor — and he intends to keep it that way at Red Bull.
"The only thing we do is to make sure our people have what they need to work. That's the only thing we do. It means create the best working environment for your people to express their talents. So yes, it means empowering them as much as you can and it means make sure that you have the right people and you keep the right people," he said.
Asked what has surprised him most about the Milton Keynes operation, Mekies pointed to a culture of obsessive performance focus that he says is unusually free of internal noise.
"This team is striking me and I'm sure quite a few others in how close to pure racing it is. You know, every single person on the campus is trying to make the car 1,000 of a second faster and is obsessed about that. And all we try to do as a team principal on top of the people aspect is to make sure that our group is not disturbed or slowed down or distracted by what you call the politics but can actually focus on what they love to do and what they are so good at," he said.
Despite the championship pain, Mekies highlighted one early milestone that he believes proves Red Bull's first in-house power unit, developed in partnership with Ford, is fundamentally sound. The team ran 100 laps on day one of preseason testing in Barcelona without a prior shakedown — an unusual approach for a brand new engine project.
"Seeing the car exiting the garage in Barcelona, first preseason test day without any shakedown. We are one of the few teams if not the only one not to have shakedown before Barcelona. Seeing that car getting out at like 9 in the morning and doing 100 laps on that first day, I think was an incredible reward for the work that everyone has been doing in Milton Keynes days and night, weekends," he said.
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*Originally published on [newsformula.one](https://newsformula.one/article/mekies-red-bull-full-attack-mode-2026).*