Red Bull’s secret weapon for Tsunoda? Palmer reveals Mekies' management shift

08:54, 26 Aug

Updated: 10:21, 26 Aug

byPietro Vurro

Jolyon Palmer believes Yuki Tsunoda has been one of the clear beneficiaries of Red Bull’s recent management change, with Laurent Mekies’ arrival as team principal marking a shift in approach compared to the Christian Horner era.

“The management change has done him a lot of good at Red Bull,” Palmer said. “I think that’s clear to see even in Spa, the first race back, and he’s getting suddenly an upgraded floor just before qualifying that they wouldn’t have done in the Horner era of Red Bull.”

"Laurent has faith in Yuki"

According to Palmer during F1 Nation Podcast, the new leadership is showing more belief in Tsunoda: “So definitely Laurent Mekies has a lot more faith and he wants to see more from Yuki and I think that’s his best shot for next year as well.”

Palmer also warned that Tsunoda’s options are limited if Red Bull decides to replace him. “I think if Red Bull oust him it’s tough to see where he’ll end up on the grid for the rest of it.”

Yuki Tsunoda on the Red Bull RB21 during the Hungarian Grand Prix

Looking at possible replacements, Palmer sees the pressure coming from Red Bull’s junior pool: “Hadjar has obviously, has been great in a rookie season. Actually, Liam Lawson’s doing a pretty solid job now against Isack as well. They’re pretty evenly matched. They’re not going to put Lawson back in the Red Bull, are they, after giving him just two races at the start of this year. So it has to be Hadjar.”

However, Palmer questioned whether Isack Hadjar has yet done enough to earn promotion: “Hadjar needs to keep performing at a much higher level than Lawson to get there and I’m not sure that he is routinely doing that at the moment. He’s still looking impressive but I think they’ll probably give him another year in the junior team and the B team.”

That, he suggested, could extend Tsunoda’s stay. “At which point maybe Yuki, if he can just find a few good races now, does get another year, new regs, new reset, and Laurent Mekies full-time in the leadership.”

Palmer concluded by contrasting the current leadership’s philosophy with Horner’s past approach: “That’s an interesting point about the shift in attitude by the new management in that, you know, Laurent Mekies appears to want to have two competitive cars, whereas Christian Horner’s way of going about the business was to put everything behind Max Verstappen.”