Born in Tours, France on 28 April 1977, Laurent Mekies path to Formula One was defined at an early age by a trip with his father to the 1988 French Grand Prix at Le Castellet. Captivated by racing and the technology on show the young Frenchman was determined to trade the grandstands for the garage and a career in motorsport.
After studying for a Masters’ degree in mechanical engineering at the highly regarded ESTACA School in Paris, during which he spent his final year at Loughborough University in the UK, Laurent secured a trackside internship in 2000 with the all-conquering Signature team in French Formula 3. The position led to a switch to Asiatech, the company that supplied the Arrows team with its engines, where, as an powertrain engineer, Laurent got his first taste of F1 in 2001.
A year later, he made the move to the Minardi team as a race engineer and stayed in Faenza for the following 12 years. When the team became Scuderia Toro Rosso in 2006, he was appointed Chief Engineer, responsible for all trackside operations, from the construction of the car at the factory to the race team at the track. Later, he became Head of Vehicle Performance, managing six departments working on core car performance.
Laurent left Toro Rosso in 2014, joining F1 governing body the FIA as Safety Director where he took on responsibility for all Safety and Medical matters for the Federation across its Championships, as well as R&D and homologation activities for both track and road.
At the start of 2017, in addition to his existing duties, he was appointed F1 Deputy Race Director working alongside the late Charlie Whiting and with responsibility for all sporting matters across FIA single-seater categories.
However, in September 2018, Laurent returned to a competitive role, joining Scuderia Ferrari as Sporting Director. In 2019, in addition to his existing responsibilities, he took on the role of Head of Track & Performance Area, while in 2021 he was promoted to the role of Racing Director.
He bid farewell to the Prancing Horse in the summer of 2023 to take on the role of Team Principal back in Faenza. Starting in January 2024 and charged with boosting the team’s championship fortunes, Laurent undertook a significant restructuring of the team now known as Visa Cash App Racing Bulls.
Promoting talent from within and recruiting smartly outside the team to attract senior figures, the new Team Principal took the team to eighth in the Constructors’ Championship with 46 points in his first season and in 2025 saw the team take 36 points and hold seventh in the team’s battle in just 12 races.
The success was apparent to all and with Oracle Red Bull Racing embracing change, Laurent received the call, in July, to make the move across to become just the second Team Principal and CEO in the Team’s history.
With the development of the RB21 at last reaping rewards, the new boss tasted quickly tasted success. In just his second race at the helm the Team returned to the podium for the first time in almost three months, with Max Verstappen finishing second at his home race, the Dutch Grand Prix. A first victory followed at the next race, in Italy, and as the results continued to flow, Laurent led the Team to third in the Constructors’ Championship.
Behind the scenes the new CEO and Team Principal was also steering the Team towards 2026, as the finishing touches were made to the all-new RB22 and to Red Bull’s power unit, the DM01. The combination is now set to take Oracle Red Bull Racing into a new area of competition.