Amidst an unstable phase for Red Bull, James Hinchcliffe assessed that Laurent Mekies faces a decisive moment in his management. The team failed to reach the podium in the first three races of the 2026 Formula 1 season and is also dealing with the future departure of Gianpiero Lambiase, Max Verstappen’s engineer, who will leave the team in 2028 for McLaren.
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“For me, this is a big test of his ability to rebuild this team,” he stated. “They have the resources, they have the knowledge. You try to build a team of over 1,000 people, not based on one or two individuals. But the problem in this situation is four, five, or six high-ranking individuals. That’s a big hole in your structure.”
Mekies was highly praised by Hinchcliffe for his management in 2025 on the F1 Nation podcast. “If you look at when Laurent Mekies arrived at this team, it was kind of suffering a bit,” he said. “There were obviously the problems we all know about, and immediately the team’s performance changed — not that he took credit for it.”
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The executive was also highlighted for his discreet demeanor: “He was very humble in acknowledging that any success was already underway, and that he was just managing the situation in the present. But you have to enjoy the fruits of the labor and the success in the moment.”
Given the current context, Hinchcliffe reinforced the scale of the Frenchman’s challenge: “This is where it will be a decisive moment in Laurent Mekies’ leadership of this team. What moves will he make? How will he position the team to return to its former level of success?”
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