Laurent Mekies: relishing Red Bull challenge

F1 Beyond The Grid

karenellenbevan

News, Sports News, Leisure, Automotive, Sports

4.7 • 5.3K Ratings

🗓️ 31 March 2026

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Red Bull Racing were at a crossroads when Laurent Mekies took over as Team Principal halfway through 2025. After a difficult first half of the season, should they continue working on their 2025 car or write that year off and prioritise the new regulations for 2026?

Their decision to stay focussed on the ‘25 car paid off, with Max Verstappen going from more than 100 points behind to missing out on the title by just two points. But in this new era of Formula 1, Red Bull have fallen down the pecking order after a difficult start to the season.

Speaking to Tom Clarkson, Laurent explains why they didn’t switch full focus to 2026 earlier and whether they’re now paying the price for last year’s turnaround.

Laurent also talks about how different his experience as a Team Principal is at Red Bull compared to Racing Bulls. He shares insight into what Max Verstappen is like outside of the car, the Dutchman’s future with the team and how Isack Hadjar is settling into his new surroundings.

Plus, with Red Bull making their own power units for the first time this year, Laurent tells Tom why he describes their Powertrains project as a ‘crazy challenge’ that only a team like Red Bull could take on.

Race reviews + your questions answered
Listen to the latest episodes of F1 Nation and F1 Explains

This episode is sponsored by CarGurus
Go to cargurus.co.uk for complete vehicle details without any surprises.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	How am I going to figure this out of this month?
0:02.0	So many bills.
0:03.0	Kids, lunch is at school.
0:04.0	They need any new clothes,
0:06.0	gas and electric,
0:08.0	25 pounds,
0:09.0	20 pounds,
0:10.0	25 pounds,
0:11.0	50 pounds,
0:12.0	755 pounds.
0:14.0	New government policies are making every day easier,
0:17.0	like offering 30 hours funded childcare
0:19.0	to help working families save on average £8,000 per year.
0:23.3	This is just one of the ways the UK government is tackling the cost of living.
0:27.3	See more at gov.uk.uk slash cost of living help.
0:35.0	When Laurel Mechiers became Red Bull Racing team principal and CEO in 2025, he had a big decision to make.
0:43.3	With the new regulations coming for 26, with the new power unit projects, there were all the reasons in the world to say, well, you know what, let's turn the page.
0:52.3	25 did not work.
0:55.4	Let's concentrate on 26.
0:57.4	You would have been mad to do anything differently.
1:01.3	The truth is, Tom, nobody wanted to turn the page.
1:05.2	That's how deep is a fighting spirit in the team.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from karenellenbevan, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of karenellenbevan and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.