Mekies received a surprise call from Red Bull executives Oliver Mintzlaff and Helmut Marko just hours before the news was made public. “I got a call a few hours before you guys were made aware,” Mekies told reporters at Spa on Friday. “I got a call from Oliver and Helmut, and they asked me if I would be interested to do the job.

Laurent Mekies spoke to the worlds media on Friday for the first time since replacing Christian Horner as Red Bull team principal and chief executive; watch the Belgian GP Sprint on Saturday from 11am,

Christian Horner’s sacking from Red Bull sent shockwaves through Formula 1. But his replacement Laurent Mekies could be the calm presence the team needs amid what promises to be an intense period of scrutiny.

Laurent Mekies has been appointed as the new team principal at Red Bull after Christian Horner was fired last week.

Yuki Tsunoda’s Red Bull received a last-minute upgrade before qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix. The Japanese driver claimed seventh place on the grid, three-tenths of a second behind Max Verstappen, with Tsunoda taking his best grid position of his Red Bull tenure so far.

Red Bull Formula 1 chief engineer Paul Monaghan has admitted Christian Horner’s sacking was a “shock”, and acknowledged boosting the squad's fortunes would be tough for new CEO Laurent Mekies.

This weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix will give us the first glimpse of major management changes that have taken place in the last two weeks. Christian Horner will not be there, having been axed by Red Bull’s Austrian HQ in some sort of power struggle.