Red Bull Racing's chief engineer, Paul Monaghan, has played a key role within the team since its inception in 2005, and he was left shocked by the departure of former boss Christian Horner. Horner hired Monaghan as a key official within Red Bull,

French engineer Mekies, previously team principal at Red Bull ’s sister F1 team Racing Bulls, has taken over from Horner and is at the helm this weekend for the Belgian Grand Prix. Mekies previously enjoyed a near-decade stint at Toro Rosso, the old name for Red Bull’s sister team, and also has experience to his name at Ferrari and the FIA.

Christian Horner’s replacement Laurent Mekies said he has been tasked with ‘reducing the outside noise’ at Red Bull after revealing he has received several messages of support from his sacked predecessor.