Max Verstappen alerted to Red Bull shift in Palmer’s Christian Horner ‘second driver’ quip

Max Verstappen will see the shift at Red Bull as new boss Laurent Mekies looks to establish a two-car team, according to former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer.

Quipping that former boss Christian Horner “sometimes barely knew he had a second driver in the field”, Palmer says Verstappen will see a “shift” under Mekies who will also want to put focus on the other side of the Red Bull garage. Yet, Palmer believes Verstappen will always be the “star” of the show.

Red Bull and Max Verstappen: Can the ideal supporting act be found?

In a shock development following the British Grand Prix, Horner was dismissed as Red Bull team boss with immediate effect. Horner had been at the helm since day one, Red Bull winning six Constructors’ titles under his watch, while Red Bull racers Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen claimed four Drivers’ championships each.

Mekies has overseen four grands prix since as Horner’s Red Bull successor, and Palmer believes the “management change” has done “a lot of good” for Verstappen’s teammate Yuki Tsunoda.

While results are not yet up to scratch for the Japanese driver, the alarming gap between he and Verstappen has reduced since Mekies’ arrival, Palmer pointing out how Tsunoda, in Belgium, was “getting suddenly an upgraded floor just before qualifying that they wouldn’t have done in the Horner era of Red Bull.”

There, Tsunoda was just under four-tenths off Verstappen’s qualifying pace as he progressed to Q3, while at Zandvoort, he returned to the points after seven races outside of the top 10.

Still, more is needed from Tsunoda as he bids to secure his Red Bull seat for 2026, but with Mekies at the helm, Palmer says Verstappen will continue to notice that shift towards making Red Bull a two-car team, joking that former boss Horner was unaware of a second Red Bull at times.

Asked how he believes Verstappen will feel about Tsunoda getting new parts at the same time as him, and perhaps not having the full weight of the team behind him, Palmer, speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, continued: “Well, he’s confirmed he’s staying with the team for next year. So that was the first thing that, actually, they needed to clear up with Laurent now at the helm.

“I don’t know. I think, because they’re not in a title push, it makes a lot of sense. They’re not sacrificing anything on Verstappen’s car, apart from, potentially, like, extra spares. Max Verstappen isn’t a driver that often needs any spares. So I think he’d be okay with it.

“Obviously, he will see the shift in probably more of the boss’s time being spent trying to understand what’s going on Yuki’s car, whereas before, I think sometimes Christian barely knew he had a second driver in the field! So, there will be these small shifts.

“But Max knows that he’s the star there. He will still be the star there, and if Red Bull want to win next year, they will need to get the most out of Max, because if Yuki stays, he’s not going to be a championship contender next year. He could be a decent support act at best for Verstappen in the new regs.”

Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda head-to-head

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

Increasing the pressure for Tsunoda is the fact that Red Bull has strong options in its driver pool to consider against him for a 2026 seat in the senior squad.

Isack Hadjar has greatly impressed in his rookie F1 season with Racing Bulls, claiming a maiden podium at the Dutch GP. Liam Lawson meanwhile has rebounded impressively from his demotion back to Racing Bulls after just two rounds with Red Bull at the start of the campaign.

But, Mekies is going to take his time on deciding Verstappen’s 2026 teammate.

Put to him after Hadjar’s P3 at Zandvoort that a 2026 Red Bull promotion seems a no-brainer decision, Mekies told PlanetF1.com’s Thomas Maher and other media outlets: “You know, as much as we like the emotion of the race by race feeling – we have a feeling in Budapest, we have another feeling here – the truth is, if you step back, look at it from a Red Bull perspective, it’s our drivers. We have them all under contract.

“It’s only us making the decisions. Us meaning the Red Bull group. Why would you put yourself under pressure based on the results of another?

“So, hence, the simple true story is that we will take our time. I’m not telling you that we’ll wait until the last race, because also, there is a dynamic by which you want to let your driver know. But we have time.”

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