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Less than a week after Christian Horner was fired by Red Bull, chief advisor Helmut Marko's blog made no mention of the Briton. The Austrian had earlier released a statement thanking Horner for his time at the Milton Keynes-based team.
There had been numerous reports of a rift between Helmut Marko and Christian Horner inside the Red Bull camp. Marko had also criticized Horner publicly after he was accused of inappropriate behavior by a female employee early last year.
So it can be understood that no love was lost between Marko and Horner following the latter's firing. This was reflected in the 82-year-old's first blog on speedweek.com post Horner's sacking.
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The closest Marko got to mentioning the situation was admitting that a new era is on the horizon for Red Bull from the Belgian Grand Prix onwards.
"In Belgium, a new chapter will begin at Red Bull Racing and the Racing Bulls – with Laurent Mekies as team manager at RBR and Alan Permane as team manager at the Racing Bulls," wrote Marko.
There was a rift between the Austrian and Thai sides of the Red Bull Racing management group regarding Horner's future following the scandal in 2024. The Austrian side, led by Marko and Red Bull GmbH Managing Director Oliver Mintzlaff, was critical, while Thai shareholder Chalerm Yoovidhya's backing was key to his staying on.
But the 51-year-old is now out after a 20-year-long stint as the team principal. He is however still a Red Bull employee, as he himself revealed in his farewell speech at the Milton Keynes factory.
Helmut Marko explains why Laurent Mekies was hired as Christian Horner's replacement at Red Bull
Helmut Marko also explained in his blog why Laurent Mekies was chosen to replace Christian Horner at Red Bull. He highlighted that Mekies and Alan Permane were both essentially promoted into their new roles from within the organization as the Red Bull group did not wish to bring in an outsider at this moment.
Permane was the Sports Director at RB and has been tasked with replacing Mekies as team principal at Red Bull's sister team.
"Alan [Permane] was the logical choice for us as the previous sports director of Racing Bulls, because we didn't want to get anyone from outside. Basically, we simply expanded his previous task," said Marko.
"Laurent [Mekies] also forced himself into the new job for the same reasons: as an internal solution and also as a man with enormous experience. Due to his versatile activities, also later at the FIA and at Ferrari, Laurent brings everything with him to lead a top team with a knowledgeable hand," he added.
Marko went on to claim that with 12 rounds of the 2025 F1 season still remaining, Red Bull does not see the drivers' championship fight as over yet. Max Verstappen is now 69 points behind Oscar Piastri in the standings at the halfway stage of the season.
