3 reasons why Red Bull should start preparing for a future without Max Verstappen

The F1 British GP race weekend was enough of an indication of where Max Verstappen's head is at when it comes to his commitment to Red Bull. There has been a major shift in tone from the driver as he has gone from reiterating his commitment to the team to opting to not comment on the situation whatsoever.

It was even curious to see the Dutch driver's demeanor when questioned if his future lies with Red Bull beyond 2025, to which he opted not to respond. There's no doubt that the driver's team is having conversations with Mercedes boss Toto Wolff. The Austrian has confirmed it himself.

It is, however, not clear-cut that the decision is going to be the right one either. One would assume that Mercedes would have a strong power unit for the new regulations, but committing years to it without seeing the proof of concept is a major gamble as well.

Regardless of what Max Verstappen does in his future, it might just be time for Red Bull boss Christian Horner to start realigning the team into a more equitable setup. The Austrian squad has been a one-driver team this season, and that is not ideal, as we can see in the constructors' championship.

Every resource and every element is aligned towards helping Verstappen win championships. The fact that this approach has left the team with miserable second drivers shows that the approach is not ideal, and it's time the team moved on from being a team that's focused on just one driver.

#1 He already has half a foot outside the door at Red Bull

Probably the biggest reason behind a shift in focus has to be the fact that Max Verstappen seems to be losing faith in the setup. There's no doubt about the fact that Toto Wolff is lurking, and there's no doubt that he would love to have the driver in his team.

The problem is not with the Austrian's approach but with the fact that the Dutchman is entertaining the approach as well.

If there is even a little bit of doubt in the mind of your driver, then it is always better to start having a contingency plan in place.

While having Max Verstappen will always be a positive, if he wants to leave, Red Bull would ideally not want to get in his way.

#2 The Max Verstappen-centric approach has paralyzed the team

Since 2019, Red Bull has achieved a lot of success with Max Verstappen as its team leader. At the same time, it has arguably underdelivered in the constructors' championship. The way Verstappen scored last season, the team should have won both titles, but it didn't.

This is also true if we talk about the current season or even 2019, for that matter. The approach of leaning in the direction of a single driver has had severe consequences for his teammate. This is precisely why a long list of drivers, including Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, and Sergio Perez, have been discarded for being unable to perform.

F1 has evolved to a large extent from having single-driver teams, and it is high time it changed the way it operates.

#3 There appears to be zero preparedness

The third point is arguably the most important here because it does appear that there is a belief in Max Verstappen and his commitment to Red Bull. Christian Horner seems to be very confident that the Dutch driver will be racing with the team in 2026 as well.

Because of this, it does appear that there is very little talk of reorientation, and that is a serious concern.

As is often said by a lot of F1 pundits, Red Bull has a backmarker car if Max Verstappen leaves the team. While there's hardly any truth to it, there's also this element that the cars are built with an extreme design primarily to work for the Dutch driver.

It is safe to say that if not for Verstappen, there would be very few drivers in the sport that could tame the beast, which is the RB21.

If there are hints of the Dutchman not wanting to stay with the team, it is high time that the team starts preparing for a future where he is not part of the team.