After studying for a Masters’ degree 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 engine 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 in Faenza. Starting in January 2025 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 to the team, 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.
Midway through the 2025 campaign, Laurent is now appointed Team Principle and CEO of Oracle Red Bull Racing, ahead of a new era in which the team will for the first time produce chassis and power units all under one roof at the Red Bull Technology Campus on Milton Keynes.
