16/07/2025 09:15
Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer has warned new Red Bull team
principal Laurent Mekies that he must "immediately" deal with
securing Max Verstappen. The four-time F1 champion has been
heavily linked with a move to Mercedes, in particular after holding
talks with team principal Toto Wolff and his manager Raymond
Vermuelen. Verstappen is contracted to Red Bull until the end of
2028, but has various clauses in his deal which could be activated
this summer, allowing him to depart. All but seven of the Milton
Keynes-based team's points this season have been scored by
Verstappen, who has single-handedly managed to keep Red Bull
fighting at the front. Securing the future of the 27-year-old is a
massive challenge for Mekies upon taking over the reins from
Horner, but one Palmer has warned must be completed. Speaking of
Mekies' first challenges at Red Bull, Palmer said on the F1 Nation
podcast: "There are really big things he needs to address
immediately, and the driver line-up is obviously one of them. "Max
Verstappen's contract, and all the rumours, fall at the same time
as Christian is ousted from the team. So I think that's one thing
that Laurent, with the hierarchy of Red Bull, needs to try and
knuckle down. Can they keep their star driver? "Because Max, at
the moment, seems to be the glue that's just holding this whole
team together. Right now, if you take out Max from Red Bull,
they've lost all the old management." Marko last man standing As
mentioned by Palmer, all of Red Bull's old management team has
left, the latest being Horner. Others include the likes of Adrian
Newey and Jonathan Wheatley. Advisor Helmut Marko is effectively
the last man standing, with Palmer expecting Verstappen's race
engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase to become more senior. Palmer
continued: "Helmut Marko is still there in an advisory capacity,
but a lot of the race team have gone from senior positions, yet Max
is still able to deliver pole position at Silverstone. He's still
able to direct the team. "Gianpiero is obviously now going to be a
central figure as well, who's got a great relationship with Max.
"But the other driver is a big question mark as well, and that's
where Laurent has got some great experience working with Yuki
Tsonoda before, and others, to try and sort out what's going on
there. "But the whole dynamic of the drivers is probably his first
thing to try and get on top of."
