New Red Bull F1 boss warned of further 'risk' after 'extreme' team decline

Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer has outlined a further “risk” involved in the Red Bull project following the dismissal of Christian Horner. Horner was ousted as team principal earlier this month after 20 years in the leading position. The Briton has been replaced by Laurent Mekies, who has stepped up to the Milton Keynes-based squad after 18 months leading the Racing Bulls outfit. Red Bull is also facing the danger of losing Max Verstappen, who has been consistently linked with a switch to Mercedes ahead of the fresh technical regulations next year, amid Red Bull's slip down the pecking order. Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, Palmer stated that Mekies is facing a mammoth task to turn around the team's fortunes. “The way the wheels have fallen off the wagon has been pretty extreme, given there's been no major overhaul of regulations that we've seen in the past,” Palmer said. “To take over what is an established front-running team, to try and work out how to make the car drivable and then put the right drivers in - it’s a really big undertaking.” Included in next year's technical regulation overhaul are brand new power units, with Red Bull building its own for the first time. With Mekies having little input since the project's inception, Palmer labelled it as a high-pressure situation for the Frenchman. “Then you've got the power trains as well, that's on the other side of it, which is on the horizon for next year,” he said. “It’s a major unknown for the whole team. And they've got such a good working relationship as well with Honda, they've had for such a long time, and they've been really competitive with it. “So that's just something else, there’s a risk for them and tough timing for Laurent.”