Laurent Mekies confirms Zak Brown talks as Red Bull McLaren tension eased

Laurent Mekies insists tensions with Zak Brown have been put to bed after their Miami “ping-pong” over GianPiero Lambiase.

With Lambiase set for a future switch from Red Bull to McLaren, both Mekies and Brown made comments in Miami which risked escalating the situation. It is one which has been nipped in the bud, according to Mekies.

Laurent Mekies and Zak Brown resolve Miami Grand Prix tension

Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust.

GianPiero Lambiase – affectionately known at Red Bull as ‘GP’ – will take up the new role of chief racing officer at McLaren no later than 2028.

Mekies has suggested that Lambiase, who is currently Red Bull’s head of racing and race engineer to Max Verstappen, will see out his contract, forcing McLaren to wait until 2028 for Lambiase’s arrival.

In Miami, Mekies suggested that Lambiase was destined to be a McLaren “team principal”.

“GP had an extraordinary opportunity,” said the Frenchman. “You know he’s going to be a team principal there. It’s not something that I can do anything else than wishing him well.”

However, Zak Brown, the McLaren Racing CEO, had previously shut down rumours that Lambiasie would replace current McLaren principal Andrea Stella, amid rumours the Italian could return to Ferrari.

Brown quipped that Mekies “knows something I don’t” with his comment.

Brown also suggested that the Lambiase and Red Bull’s relationship could become “uncomfortable” if it continues despite his confirmed future McLaren move.

Brown was spotted visiting Red Bull hospitality at the Miami GP, after which Mekies told media, including PlanetF1.com, about the outcome.

“We talk very often with Zak and with my other colleagues,” said Mekies.

“Certainly none of us wanted to go into a ping-pong about it, and we had a good chat about it, like we always do, and we move on.”

More Miami Grand Prix talking points via PlanetF1.com

Miami GP conclusions: Antonelli insecurity, Verstappen impatience, F1’s TV fail

Winners and losers from the 2026 Miami Grand Prix

Lambiase’s upcoming exit marks another Red Bull veteran departure, with the likes of Christian Horner, Helmut Marko, Jonathan Wheatley, Adrian Newey and Rob Marshall among the exodus of recent years.

Mekies did not try to gloss over those high-profile departures, but defended the depth of Red Bull’s talent pool, and its system.

Last month, Red Bull confirmed the promotion of Ben Waterhouse to head of performance engineering, reporting to technical director Pierre Wache.

Meanwhile, Andrea Landi joins from Racing Bulls as head of performance on 1 July.

“In terms of replacing GP, we have a couple of years to think about it [laughs],” Mekies quipped. “But jokes aside, we are quite proud.

“We don’t want to be defensive about the fact that we lost some talents. It’s a fact, and it’s been there for three or four years.

“As a result of that, it’s the highest priority in the team to make sure that we create an environment in order to retain, develop and attract the best talents in the pit lane.

“We feel we have the best talent already, department per department. So that starts with Ben on the power unit side for his team, and with Pierre on the chassis side and his team.

“Under them, we feel we have the best talent, department for department.

“When we can, we will always try to see how we can promote internally. We have created a number of talents over the last few years, and we are proud of that. We want to continue [doing that].

“If and when we need to go and get a specific set of skills or experience from some of our dear competitors around the pit lane, we will do it, as we have done.

“You have seen a couple of weeks ago, we had a very good mix in our new structure, a very good mix of internal promotion with Ben Waterhouse, and with Andrea Landi joining soon from Ferrari and Racing Bulls.

“And that’s how we look at things. We go and give the best chance to our talent. And if we need to go elsewhere to inject, we will do it happily.”

Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.

You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!

Read next: How Max Verstappen’s aggressive racing cost him positions in Miami