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Renowned Dutch media persons and TV hosts Jack Plooij and Olav Mol hailed Red Bull for firing Christian Horner and replacing him with Laurent Mekies. Plooij and Mol, in their latest statements, praised Mekies for his language fluency and political capabilities within the sport.
Following the conclusion of the British GP, Red Bull sacked Horner with immediate effect. As a replacement, the team brought in Mekies, who was the team principal of Racing Bulls, Red Bull's sister team.
Horner helped his drivers claim eight Drivers' Championships and six Constructors' Championships during his time as a team principal. Horner is currently serving gardening leave and has yet to join a new team. Plooij said:
"He knows all the people at Red Bull. He speaks fluent Italian, Spanish, English, everything. French of course, because that's where he is from. But he is welcomed with open arms. He already knows all these people well.
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"He has a very good friend in Fred Vasseur. And he is very good friends with other team managers. That could potentially open up a lot of opportunities He is truly a skillful political man. And what you also shouted during the race, Olav, an engineer! He knows his stuff."
Adding on Plooij's statement, Mol said,
"I give him two thumbs up for his first weekend." (Via Ziggo Sport Race Café)
Mekies arrived at Racing Bulls from Ferrari, where he served for six years. Besides this, the French executive has also worked with multiple teams such as Arrows, Minardi, Toro Rosso and the FIA, amassing over 25 years in the sport.
Laurent Mekies revealed how he received Red Bull call
Laurent Mekies touched upon how he received the call to be the team principal of Red Bull Racing. Speaking about this, the Frenchman said it was Red Bull GmbH's CEO, Oliver Mintzlaff, and Red Bull Racing's advisor Helmut Marko, who offered him the job.
“I got a call a few hours before you guys were made aware. I got a call from Oliver and Helmut, and they asked me if I would be interested to do the job. Obviously, it came out of the blue at that moment for me. I was actually in the UK at Racing Bulls, and it came in a completely unexpected way." (Via PlanetF1)
Christian Horner's dismissal from Red Bull meant that the Austrian team would be operated by a new team principal for the first time in their 20 years of history. Horner has been at the helm of affairs at Red Bull since 2005, the time of its inception.
