The scandal involving Christian Horner and his assistant is still far from over, and the power struggle continues at Red Bull, although much less is said about it. And it is still possible that Max Verstappen will leave Milton Keynes in the very near future: his father Jos de He remains one of the main characters of the Austrian saga.
If Verstappen leaves the championship team, it will be a real shock. But wasn’t Lewis Hamilton recently surprised by his contract with Ferrari? After that day, no one can say that some kind of transition will not definitely occur in Formula 1. With a high probability of Max becoming a four-time champion by the end of this year, isn’t this the best time to think in a new challenge?
What’s happening in Milton Keynes:
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Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff makes no secret that he will be happy to replace the outgoing British champion with a new one from the Netherlands. There is no doubt that Aston Martin will easily find financing for Verstappen’s arrival, even if they have to buy Marco and Newey along with him.
Be that as it may, it is too early to speculate on where Max will go if he breaks with Red Bull. But you can already imagine who could become the new leader of the Austrian team if the Dutchman left.
Fernando Alonso
The first that comes to mind is Alonso, who back in 2021 said he was returning to Formula 1 in search of a third title. And at the moment it seems that only Red Bull can take someone to the championship, even if the recent failure in Melbourne has considerably reduced the team’s lead. Fernando is a motorsports superstar and is in great shape, so he would be a great replacement for Max from both a sporting and marketing point of view.
Fernando Alonso
Photo: Dan Istitene/Getty Images
The question is whether the Spaniard himself will want to go to Red Bull, because he has already rejected Milton Keynes more than once, preferring other options. Furthermore, Fernando is considered a candidate for the vacant position at Mercedes, and perhaps the former champion will be offered more favorable conditions there. Finally, it cannot be ruled out that Alonso decides to stay at Aston Martin, where there is a strong engineering team and strong financial support, or leave F1 completely.
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Lando Norris
Norris is one of the most promising drivers of his generation and is considered no less talented than Leclerc or Russell, but he has yet to win races simply due to a lack of decent equipment. This, however, is not entirely true: in Sochi and Monza his car was perfectly capable of winning. Furthermore, in the last two years, Lando has regularly made mistakes in qualifying, and one of them prevented him from competing with Verstappen in Qatar last season.
Norris’ advantage over Alonso is also a disadvantage. Lando is 18 years younger, so he can be considered long-term, but at the same time Fernando has more experience, he, unlike the British, has won races and championships and is ready to be the leader of the team. In addition, Norris has a contract with McLaren for the next few years. Red Bull can buy it if they want, but is it worth it?
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Carlos Sainz
Until recently, only the bravest experts called Sainz a candidate for a job at Red Bull, but two races this year changed everything. Twice in the 2024 season, Carlos started and on both occasions ended up becoming the driver of the day in the fan vote. And both times were well deserved: in Bahrain, Sainz was the best behind Red Bull and took the podium, and after missing the race in Jeddah, he took a crushing victory in Melbourne.
Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris
Photo: Clive Mason/Getty Images
But let’s not take these successes out of context. In 2022-2023, Carlos was more behind Leclerc than in front of him. As for the number of points and podiums, the difference is not so big (561:486 and 19:14, respectively, in favor of the Monegasque), but in qualifying the Spaniard lost more noticeably: 14:30. Red Bull knows Sainz well, and if Milton Keynes decides that the Spaniard has the potential to lead the team there will be no problems with the invitation, although Audi is also showing interest in the driver.
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Oscar Piastri
After the victories of Vettel and Verstappen, Red Bull is strongly associated with the success of young and talented drivers. And the youngest on the starting grid is Oscar Piastri. At the start of his second season in F1, the Australian is still behind Norris in distance, but in qualifying he is usually on par with the more experienced Lando. If Oscar can improve a little more throughout the year, he will become a young and ready new leader for Red Bull.
Alejandro Albon
Since we included Sainz and Piastri in the list of potential candidates, let’s not forget Alexander Albon. The Thai is older than Piastri and less experienced than Sainz, but in recent years he has managed to open up at Williams and has gained the confidence that he lacked so much at Red Bull in 2019-2020. Last year, Alex became one of the best drivers in the middle of the pack and now he should not be lost to the level of the best team.
In Melbourne, Albon disappointed the team:
An F1 driver crashed his car… and because of him, his teammate was left without a Grand Prix! Is this even fair?
Sergio Perez
Finally, we would like to add that Red Bull does not have to look for a new leader. This, as paradoxical as it may seem in light of last season, could be Pérez. Cheko knows the team well and, in the absence of pressure, is capable of producing solid, although not maximum results. At the same time, Sergio’s partner could be someone who is still difficult to imagine as the leader of Red Bull, but who over time is capable of growing into him.
It could be Tsunoda, who had a great performance in Melbourne, or Lawson; if Red Bull doesn’t believe in RB drivers, why delay with Liam? In theory, the Austrians are able to lure Berman away from Ferrari: Oliver still will not have the opportunity to take the commanding position of the Scuderia in the coming years. Or, who knows, call Nico Hulkenberg: the more experienced German is still fast and in 2014-2016 he surpassed Pérez in the standings (35:24 in three seasons).
Oliver Berman debuted at age 18:
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