f1isgood wrote: ↑16 Mar 2026, 21:18
lh13 wrote: ↑16 Mar 2026, 21:14
vorticism wrote: ↑16 Mar 2026, 18:38
It’s been eight months and there’s still not been one article, press release, employee statement, nor pundit’s commentary able to answer one simple question: why on Earth would you replace Chrisian Horner with... Laurent Mekies?
Same reason Real Madrid replaced Alonso with Arbeloa. They wanted a yes man, who does what he's told, nothing more, nothing less.
Especially after the Thai side lost their majority.
Mintzlaff-Mekies-Waché are no Mateschitz-Horner-Newey. RBR may coast on its fame for another season or two, but I can't see them reigniting their heydey, because the RB board apparently see their heyday as a bad thing. “Because Horner,” I guess.
I get the impression that the heads of RB found themselves in a discomforting position, shoulder to shoulder with Horner after Mateschitz passed away. There they were, toe to toe with someone they had no capacity to spar with. Petty resentments & envies followed. Horner would have to go, for the pride of insecure upper managers and shareholders. My armchair psychopathologizing. To say nothing of elements outside of RBR who may have played a role in Horner's ouster.
Max Verstappen and the old guard rank-and-file who remain at RBR are the only ones left of the once-maverick team who took the fight to all the big names and not only competed with them, but trounced them. The Red Bull board, now seemingly composed of insecure & envious types, will have no choice but to see Verstappen as too-reminiscent of the Horner era. They will have to target and undermine Verstappen at some point. It is inevitable, it’s written into their DNA. They’re resentful of Horner and what was accomplished during his tenure, and it was Horner who hired Verstappen. So Max will have to go at some point. The new higher-ups will demand it, even if they never say it. And not just Max. Any old-guard employee who reminds them too-much of the victorious era. It does give Verstappen a "good" moment to depart the sport, do some motor-racing elsewhere, and potentially return if a seat opens at another team. "Getting tired of Mario Kart, honestly..."
From maverick to milquetoast. Newey won’t be able to repeat such a phenomenon with Stroll.
History will have to note that this team was only ever defeated off-track. In 2014, and again in 2024-2025. In hindsight it’s perhaps more endearing what happened in 2023, after the death of Dietrich. To win every race. Almost if it was a last testament and thank-you, to the man who supported their efforts.
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