Red Bull has 'good chemistry' as Laurent Mekies and Max Verstappen continue rebuild

David Coulthard believes Laurent Mekies and Max Verstappen share "good chemistry" as the pair continue to rebuild the team following a period of transition. 

Since 2024, Red Bull has lost Christian Horner, Adrian Newey, Jonathan Wheatley, Will Courtenay, Craig Skinner, and Helmut Marko from their respective positions as team principal, chief technical officer, sporting director, head of strategy, chief designer, and driver advisor, with Gianpiero Lambiase also set to leave as head of race engineering and Verstappen's engineer to join McLaren. 

Following Horner's sacking in July 2025, Red Bull GmbH drafted in Mekies from sister team Racing Bulls to replace the Briton, with Frenchman Mekies having previously worked for the FIA as safety director and deputy race director.

He also enjoyed a spell at Ferrari as sporting and racing director before moving to Racing Bulls in 2024 as team principal, before the call to replace Horner last July. 

Under his stewardship, Verstappen launched a late-season bid for the 2025 title, missing out by just two points, and steered the Red Bull Powertrains project through its final stages before the in-house engine debuted in 2026.

Red Bull has also captured Gwen Lagrue from Mercedes to assume control of the junior programme, with Mekies also agreeing to a new contract with Verstappen until 2030 to finally end the swirling rumours about the Dutchman leaving.

Speaking about the atmosphere at his former team, which he raced for between 2005 and 2008 and remains an ambassador for, Coulthard spoke of the "good chemistry" between team principal and driver.

"Laurent's job is to make sure that they have the right people growing within, and the right people coming in," Coulthard exclusively told RacingNews365.

"Max is someone who brings people, so it's like an Adrian Newey; if Adrian is there, people think: 'Oh, he must know', and you can see that it hasn't worked out, but in the longer term, I'm sure they'll come forward.

"It takes time to build, but I think the key thing is that Laurent was part of the Red Bull family, so he hasn't had to build that relationship with Austria and the owners because they know him already. 

"He brings a wealth of experience from the FIA, from Ferrari, from his career, and he's a different personality and has a different way of operating than Christian Horner, but there's more than one person who wins a world championship as a team principal.

"I think Laurent understands that; he's very calm, and he understands that Max has the right to be frustrated, because he understands the team is frustrated.

"The chemistry is good, and I think that helps take away the doubt from the media, which then adds to the chemistry."