Ex-Formula 1 star backs Max Verstappen to leave Red Bull if team fails him

Former Formula 1 driver Christian Danner believes Max Verstappen will walk away from Red Bull if the team does not deliver under the new regulations.

Over the last few years, the Milton Keynes-based outfit have lost key integral figures, such as former team principal Christian Horner and legendary designer Adrian Newey.

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Additionally, the team have most recently parted ways with Gianpiero Lambiase, who served as the Head of Race Engineering, and is now moving to McLaren at the end of his current deal after being the Dutchman’s right-hand man.

Speculation has swirled regarding the four-time champion’s future since last season, and Danner is convinced that this remains the real threat to the Austrian team’s long-term stability.

‘Walk away’

Danner, who raced in Formula 1 throughout the 1980s, insisted that Verstappen is under no pressure to make a premature decision about his career.

Speaking exclusively to talkSPORT on behalf of BetGoodwin, Danner shared his view on the changing dynamics at Red Bull.

He said: “Laurence Mekies is actually doing a very good job because he is not the kind of person who needs his ego to be seen like we had on the Horner side of things.

“He just gets on with it, and that is a very good sign that the team will come back to its fundamental strength, which lies in the depth of its engineering.

“It’s not just one guy, it’s an awful lot of people there, and the facilities they have got on the campus in Milton Keynes are, simply speaking, sensational.

“I think they will definitely stabilise, the trouble might turn out to be Max, because if the team can’t provide him with what he’s asking for, there is a good chance he’s going to walk away.

“If he gets a good opportunity to walk away, he will take it, I am sure, but it has to be a very good chance, and a very good car, and a very good team.

“Who that’s going to be, I can’t tell you. Is it McLaren? Is it Mercedes? I don’t think he has got a lot of love left for Ferrari.

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“But he’s in such a comfortable position, he can do whatever he wants. He just sits back and waits, because everybody would sack whoever is alongside whoever to get Max into their team.

“And that is something he is fully aware of.”

The luxury of time

Verstappen can comfortably afford to monitor how rival teams adapt to the new regulations before making a career-defining decision.

The Red Bull driver has confirmed he will stay with the team for the remainder of the season, despite being heavily linked to Mercedes over the last couple of years.

Danner added: “If he wants a McLaren, he’s going to get it. If he wants a Mercedes, he’s definitely going to get it. And if he wants a Ferrari, for Christ’s sake, he will get it.

“He is not forced by any means to make a decision now. He can sit back, wait, see how the season develops, see how the cars, the teams, and the technologies come together, and how they improve.

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“Then, eventually, he can make a decision.”

Post-Horner

Danner has also noted how the ego-free approach led by Laurent Mekies is a sign how Red Bull is becoming a healthier environment.

However, structural shake-ups could still loom amid speculation the FIA will ban single parent organisations from owning multiple teams, after they have been criticised as a conflict of interest.

Following rumours that Mercedes could purchase Alpine, Danner expects the government body to intervene and outlaw multi-team ownership.

It is a move that would directly affect Racing Bulls, the sister team of Red Bull.

He said: “It’ll be very interesting to see whether the FIA is going to disallow the team ownership from owning more than one team.

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“Which is a rather delicate approach, because it is meant to be anti-Toto Wolff buying Alpine.

“It would eventually mean, however, that Red Bull would have to get rid of Racing Bulls.

“And nothing’s decided, but I think I can smell it in the air that they will come up with a very strict regulation on ownership, which would match with whatever else is happening out there in the global sports world.

“You can’t own two football teams in the same league. I think that’s what will happen, and that’ll have a lot of influence or effect on what’s going to happen with Red Bull.

“I think they’re going to continue, and they will successfully continue… whether it’s with Max or without, I can’t tell you.”