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.

“I'm a friend of Christian Horner and sent him a message of support, and I think that he is a very good team principal. I think he's able to do the job, but Ferrari wants to have an image and not many distractions. This is my opinion.”

Christian Horner has previously spoken about Lewis Hamilton amid fresh reports linking him to Ferrari. After 20 years at Red Bull Racing, Horner's long reign as team principal and CEO was ended abruptly this week.