Red Bull issue withering 'on fire' response to brutal Christian Horner comments

Laurent Mekies has hit back at Christian Horner's claim that Red Bull has "lost its mojo" since the Briton's exit, insisting the team's spirit has never been stronger.

Horner, sacked as team principal and CEO in July last year and replaced by Mekies, has used recent media appearances to suggest the Milton Keynes squad had also lost "its presence and its vibe" since his departure.

Horner has described the atmosphere in his final period at Red Bull as unhappy and volatile, while also claiming executives had told him his operation had come to be seen as Christian Horner Racing rather than Red Bull Racing.

Mekies, who inherited a team battling chassis and power unit deficits, chronic start problems and radio issues through the first half of 2026, was asked to respond to Horner's comments and gave a pointed reply.

"First, Christian is entitled to his opinion," Mekies said, speaking to media, including RacingNews365.

"He obviously spent a lot of time with this team, and I respect his point of view.

"We certainly feel extremely differently about the vibe in the team. One of the strong points we have been enjoying, certainly in the last few months, is the incredible team spirit which has allowed us to come back from a very difficult moment."

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Red Bull working off 'brutally honest comments' of drivers - Mekies

The Frenchman pointed to Red Bull's late-season turnaround last year, which saw Max Verstappen miss out on a fifth drivers' title by two points, and its resurgence this year after a sluggish start under the new regulations, as evidence of the spirit that exists.

"It's always one thing to have a positive spirit when you are winning races," said Mekies. "It's something else to have that same fighting spirit and unity between the team members when you are put under pressure, and we certainly had a challenging first part of the year, chassis side and PU side.

"The way the team stuck together, the way the team set the Milton Keynes departments on fire to try to come back, and the way they have done that in such a constructively challenging manner, from any of our team members to the brutally honest comments of our drivers, that's the Red Bull spirit, and that's certainly how we feel."

Mekies made clear, however, that the recent run of results, including wins for Verstappen in Singapore and Malaysia, is not being treated as mission accomplished.

"We need to go racing, and the guys have got the reward they deserved with the turnaround that they have produced, which is, I think, very remarkable," he said.

"Ultimately we are well aware that we live and die with our results, and the target is not to win one race or two races. The target is to be back to winning world titles, and until we are there, nobody will feel we have achieved anything."