Max Verstappen overtook Oscar Piastri to win the Formula 1 sprint race at the Belgian Grand Prix as Red Bull begins a new era without fired team principal Christian Horner.

Formula One is famous for making lots of noise, but the silence at Red Bull on Friday was frankly deafening. After the day of the long knives a fortnight ago – comprising the bombshell dismissal of team principal Christian Horner after 20 years and 405 consecutive races in charge,

A flurry of upgrades have been confirmed for Red Bull's RB21 by an official FIA statement at the Belgian Grand Prix. With the team sat down in fourth in the constructors' championship and Max Verstappen's chances of securing a fifth consecutive title all but over,

New Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies stressed that four-time Formula One champion Max Verstappen is "central" to the project of bringing the team back to the top. "Max is central to the project and he's key to the project and we need his magic at the racetrack.

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.

The Racing Bulls driver has confidently suggested that there are high chances of Sergio Perez's return to F1 next year.

Red Bull are set to lose a significant advantage over their Formula 1 rivals with reports suggesting that the FIA are planning to introduce a major rule change. Earlier this month came the shock news that Christian Horner had been sacked as Red Bull team principal.