Ted Kravitz says Red Bull would finish dead last without star driver Max Verstappen in a stunning claim

Sky Sports F1 pundit Ted Kravitz claimed that Red Bull would finish last in the Constructors' championship without Max Verstappen. The Austrian team has been under a huge amount of scrutiny, given that they have failed to consistently challenge McLaren for race wins in the 2025 season.

After dominating the current set of regulations for two and a half years, the Milton Keynes-based outfit has found itself plummeting down the grid and has been caught by their rivals. The former world champions finished P3 in the Constructors championship last year and sit in fourth in the standings this year.

Apart from Max Verstappen's two victories, Red Bull has only scored a handful of points from their second driver in the 2025 season, with Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson occupying the seat in the first 11 races thus far.

Appearing on Sky F1’s coverage of the Austrian Grand Prix, Kravitz suggested that the Austrian team make a more drivable car for the second driver, or else they might finish last if Max Verstappen departed, saying, via PlanetF1:

"Red Bull could take some cues from the Racing Bulls and just build a bespoke car, I guess, for the second half of the garage. Do they have the resources to do that? Probably not.

“Liam Lawson, who was dumped after two races from this team, finished sixth. And Isack Hadjar, had he not had a bad deal with the shuffling of the pack early on, would have been in the points."

Verstappen has scored 155 of Red Bull's 162 points in the 2025 season and has been fighting atop the grid with a car riddled with balance issues.

F1 pundit paints a gloomy picture for Red Bull post Max Verstappen crash

F1 pundit Ted Kravitz stated that Red Bull had no one to score the points after Max Verstappen crashed out of the 2025 Austrian GP after the latter's opening lap hit with Kimi Antonelli.

As quoted by the aforementioned source, the Brit reflected on the subject and said:

“What happens when Max Verstappen is bundled out of the race by Kimi Antonelli at the start? Well, they have nobody, it seems, in the other car. This second Red Bull is nearly undriveable. It’s identical to the other Red Bull, but no one can drive it. It’s this car that’s set up and, built the way it is, it’s only driveable by one person now.

"But if Max Verstappen isn’t driving your car because he goes out at the beginning or because he’s not in the team anymore, you’re left with an undriveable car that nobody can drive or score any points."

Verstappen is rumored to be in contact with Mercedes about a possible move away from Red Bull in 2026 or 2027, despite having a contract with the latter until the end of the 2028 season.