Former System 1 driver and Sky Sports activities F1 analyst Martin Brundle has mentioned Laurent Mekies’s strategy to main Purple Bull Racing and why Christian Horner “would not need to come again as a crew principal”.
The Milton Keynes outfit changed Horner as Purple Bull Racing CEO and crew principal with Racing Bulls crew chief Laurent Mekies on 9 July 2025. Horner later reached a settlement settlement with the Austrian crew in September 2025, which is known to permit the Briton to return to the championship in 2026.
Since Mekies arrived on the crew, Purple Bull has secured 174 factors over eight rounds. Compared, the crew scored 172 factors in 12 rounds previous to Horner’s exit. Whereas numerous elements must be thought-about for the bounce in efficiency, Brundle praised Mekies for his strategy to the function.
“Very impressed and he’s dealing with it in a really mature method,” Brundle mentioned in the course of the Sky Sports activities F1 Present. “Ego, completely non-existent. We’re seeing a brand new kind of crew principal today, aren’t we? That’s why Christian wouldn’t need to come again as a crew principal.
“I feel with extra of an engineering background, appears to be the best way to tie collectively these huge portions of extremely specialised individuals in a crew and he’s obtained assist with the politics, with Helmut Marko and others.
Martin Brundle
Picture by: James Sutton / Motorsport Pictures
“So I feel it’ll be a collaboration on the [2026] driver selection, most likely extra so than prior to now among the many senior individuals in Purple Bull, however I feel he truly is the correct man for the correct time in System 1, and that’s the best way it’s going.”
A number of groups have gone down an identical route of hiring personnel with engineering backgrounds for the function. For instance, Haas crew principal Ayao Komatsu beforehand held the function of trackside engineering director on the American squad, Sauber crew chief Jonathan Wheatley beforehand served as Purple Bull sporting director and chief mechanic at Benetton and Renault, and Racing Bulls crew principal Alan Permane got here from a background as sporting director, chief working officer and chief race engineer at Alpine.
We would like your opinion!
What would you wish to see on Motorsport.com?
– The Motorsport.com Group
