New Red Bull boss handed 'immediate' Max Verstappen contract warning

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."