Red Bull chief engineer ‘shocked’ by Horner exit as Mekies inherits “difficult situation”

Red Bull Formula 1 chief engineer Paul Monaghan has admitted Christian Horner’s sacking was a “shock”, and acknowledged boosting the squad’s fortunes would be tough for new CEO Laurent Mekies.

One of the most successful team bosses in Formula 1 history with eight drivers’ and six constructors’ titles, Horner was unceremoniously removed from his position on 9 July and replaced by Mekies, who previously held the team principal mantle at sister outfit Racing Bulls.

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Monaghan joined Red Bull in 2005 as head of race engineering before taking on the chief engineer role, so spent two decades working alongside Horner at the helm of the team and paid tribute to his former colleague’s success.

“I won’t duck the truth, it was a shock to me,” Monaghan admitted, echoing some of the team’s staff – including Horner and Mekies themselves. “Sad. Christian’s put a large chunk of his working life into the team.

“All together as a team, we’ve enjoyed a huge amount of success – perhaps unwarranted to some views, whatever. Anyway, what is done is done. I say thank you to Christian for everything he did personally for me and for this team.”

Paul Monaghan, Chief Engineer, Red Bull Racing, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, talk in Parc Ferme

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

Mekies is now tasked to lead one of the largest outfits in Formula 1, perhaps the trickiest one in terms of internal politics as the various stakeholders sometimes clash.

“Laurent’s got quite a difficult situation to be dropped in,” Monaghan added. “I’ve known him for many years, he’s a very personable, smart chap.

“Now it’s up to us to pull together as a team, because there are nine other teams who can’t wait to fight us. If we’re going to stand up to them, we have to stand as a team.

“We are preparing to stand as a team. Laurent is doing his utmost to ensure that that is what we are aiming to do. We will do so.”

For Red Bull to succeed, a major undertaking will be sorting out its second car as its successive drivers keep failing to match team spearhead Max Verstappen.

While the four-time world champion has taken two wins this season, outfoxing dominant McLarens, Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda have scored a grand total of seven points in the second RB21. That’s fewer than all entries but Oliver Bearman, Gabriel Bortoleto, and the second Alpine car that Jack Doohan started the season in before being replaced by Franco Colapinto.

On Tsunoda’s challenge, Monaghan insisted: “He’s getting quicker. We don’t stop. The three-week gap, we didn’t all put our feet up and enjoy some time off, one or two days here and there.

“But yes, we are trying to help Yuki as we help Max. It’s in our interests. We want him to go quicker. In Austria, he was on it. The qualifying had unravelled, which is dreadfully sad for him,” he added, referring to Tsunoda qualifying 18th at the Red Bull Ring before colliding with Colapinto in a dismal race.

“It puts him in a very awkward situation, there’s pressure and so on. Silverstone again got better. The race was a bit mixed up and messed about. We start again here and I’m sure he’ll be fine.”