Heading into the Belgian GP, Red Bull is 288 points behind Constructors' Championship leader McLaren, and Verstappen's dreams of scoring a fifth successive Drivers' Championship crown are hanging by a thread. With a critical regulation change incoming for the 2026 season, Red Bull's status as an F1 powerhouse is under significant threat.

French engineer Mekies, previously team principal at Red Bull ’s sister F1 team Racing Bulls, has taken over from Horner and is at the helm this weekend for the Belgian Grand Prix. Mekies previously enjoyed a near-decade stint at Toro Rosso, the old name for Red Bull’s sister team, and also has experience to his name at Ferrari and the FIA.

“I'm a friend of Christian Horner and sent him a message of support, and I think that he is a very good team principal. I think he's able to do the job, but Ferrari wants to have an image and not many distractions. This is my opinion.”