A new Red Bull era begins under Mekies at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix. He was appointed after 18 months at Racing Bulls. He worked at Ferrari for five years, as deputy team principal and racing director, and at the F.I.A., which governs Formula 1, for four years, initially as safety director and then deputy race director.

Red Bull axed Christian Horner after 20 years as team principal and chief executive of the F1 team last week, meaning the Belgian Grand Prix is the first event he has missed in 406 races