For the first time in the team’s 21-year Formula 1 history, Red Bull are going into a race weekend without Christian Horner at the helm.

Just three days after leading Red Bull at the British Grand Prix earlier in July, Horner was suddenly dismissed from his roles as team principal and chief executive in a decision that sent shockwaves through the sport.

While the tumultuous nature of Horner’s final 18 months in charge meant his departure wasn’t a surprise on the whole, the sudden, mid-season nature of the announcement certainly was.

The upshot is that his replacement, Laurent Mekies, has had just two weeks to prepare for his first race in charge of one of the sport’s powerhouses.

The Frenchman, promoted from running Red Bull’s junior squad Racing Bulls, has had much to consider ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix, live on Sky Sports F1 throughout the weekend.

Ahead of the Spa-Francorchamps Sprint weekend, Sky Sports analyses the variety of issues Mekies must address in the short and medium term.

Sort out Verstappen’s future

The highest profile story at Red Bull is the future of Max Verstappen.

The build-up to the British Grand Prix was dominated by speculation that the winner of the last four drivers’ titles is going to leave Red Bull to join Mercedes.

Many theorised that Horner’s sacking was in part a response to this situation, suggesting that Verstappen might be more likely to stay under new leadership, given his father Jos’ poor relationship with the outgoing boss.

Whether that’s true or not, sorting out Verstappen’s future and quieting the disruptive noise caused by the uncertainty is something Mekies will have undoubtedly already sought to achieve.

It’s also worth noting that the Red Bull powerbrokers may believe that Verstappen has already decided to leave, and that losing the team’s prize asset was a key factor in Horner’s demise.

Regardless of whether Verstappen stays or not, Mekies will still have a 2026 line-up choice to make, with Yuki Tsunoda struggling badly in the second car following Liam Lawson’s disastrous two-race stint to start the season.

Isack Hadjar, whose career Mekies has been overseeing at Racing Bulls, seems like the leading candidate for a promotion, having impressed during the first half of his rookie campaign.

Turn around car’s performance

Verstappen has made it very clear throughout his career that he only really cares about one thing – having a fast car in which he can compete for victories and titles.

After enjoying an unprecedented spell of dominance from the back end of the 2022 season through to the early stages of last year, Verstappen has won just four grands prix in the last 12 months.

The lack of performance has been emphasised by the struggles of Verstappen’s team-mates, with Sergio Perez, Lawson and Tsunoda struggling to score points in the second seat.

While rivals, most notably McLaren, have made impressive progress, Red Bull’s fall-off from dominance to sitting fourth in the constructors’ standings raises questions that Verstappen, among others, will want answers to.

Can he have confidence that the same technical personnel who have allowed the current car to become such a handful will deliver a winner when radical new regulations are introduced in 2026?

Then there’s the further question of whether Red Bull’s first in-house engine will be competitive enough to power the car into contention.

Mekies can’t instantly change either of these things, but he must set the team back in a positive direction.

Put a stop to departures

It’s hard to believe that legendary designer Adrian Newey’s May 2024 departure from his position as chief technical officer hasn’t been a major factor in the car’s regression since around that time.

Newey is one of a number of influential figures who left Red Bull in the latter stages of Horner’s tenure.

His exit was preceded in 2023 by chief engineering officer Rob Marshall, who has, by all accounts, played a significant role in McLaren usurping Red Bull as the sport’s dominant squad.

Former Red Bull head of race strategy Will Courtenay is in the process of following Marshall’s path over to McLaren, as he waits to take up his role as McLaren sporting director, having left Red Bull in September last year.

Also following Newey out the door was long-time sporting director Jonathan Wheatley, who has recently taken over as team principal of Sauber, the team that will become Audi next year.

While movement of technical personnel in Formula 1 is perfectly normal, to lose four key figures in such a short period is far from ideal and suggests all was not well under Horner’s leadership.

Mekies needs to first ensure there is no further brain drain, and then set about restoring Red Bull as a team and environment where they can attract the best from their rivals.

A change of image?

While Red Bull’s overall performance under Horner cannot be questioned, with a combined 14 drivers’ and constructors’ titles won under his leadership, there’s a feeling that those who decided on his exit may be open to something of a rebrand.

It was all part of the winning package, but Horner brought a fierce competitiveness and win-at-all-costs attitude that established him as something of a pantomime villain in the paddock.

That was already the case before last year’s off-track controversies, which undoubtedly damaged his reputation and ultimately proved to be the beginning of the end.

While most of the sport’s team principals appear to get along well, Horner was involved in fairly regular feuds with the likes of Mercedes’ Toto Wolff and McLaren’s Zak Brown, and others before them.

Mekies is a very different character, well-liked and with relationships all over the paddock, having entered F1 with Arrows in 2001 before going on to work at Minardi, Toro Rosso, the FIA and Ferrari before returning to the Red Bull setup with Racing Bulls in 2024.

While Red Bull won’t want to lose their maverick status as the upstart drinks company that ripped up the sport’s established order, a more affable leader may prove welcome both inside and outside of the team.

The 2025 Formula 1 season resumes this weekend with the Belgian Grand Prix as the Sprint format returns, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime.