Max Verstappen is proving to be a blessing and a curse for Red Bull Racing right now.

Red Bull wouldn’t swap the success they’ve achieved with Max Verstappen over the past four years for anything.

He confirmed his fourth consecutive world championship at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, but his performances throughout the 2024 season have uncovered another problem for Red Bull.

Verstappen is set to finish the season more than 250 points ahead of Sergio Perez which is a nearly unprecedented difference between two teammates.

Perez has been told he should have retired this year such is the gap in performance levels between himself and his teammate.

However, Verstappen has a history when it comes to showing the weaknesses of his teammates.

Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon have gone on to have very strong F1 careers away from Red Bull, but were shown up alongside Verstappen.

Daniel Ricciardo was the Dutchman’s most competitive partner but was no longer at the levels required at RB this year to be Red Bull’s backup option if they wanted to jettison Perez earlier in the year.

David Coulthard has spoken to the Drive To Wynn Podcast about another driver he would worry about alongside the 27-year-old.

David Coulthard not convincing Yuki Tsunoda could cope with being Max Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate

Reflecting on the race in Las Vegas, Coulthard highlighted several performances further down the grid which led to a discussion about Yuki Tsunoda and his future.

Coulthard shared his concerns about the Japanese driver and compared him to an F1 cult hero: “Was there any other sort of standout performances down the grid?

“Good solid day again from Hulkenberg, who in that Haas can very often not be seen, but bringing the points home.

“Checo just picking up a point at the end. Yuki doing everything, I guess, he needs to be to make himself a contender.

“Although do we truly believe Yuki’s a Max beater? You wouldn’t think so. But some people flourish under the pressure of a top car and other people wilt.

“An example of that would be, for me, Heinz Harald-Frenzen, who every time he was in an average car, he would, you know, at Jordan, he’d win a Grand Prix.

“When he was at Williams, a world championship car, he’d really kind of struggled there.

“So, it’s funny how people handle or don’t the pressure of expectation.

“When people don’t expect them to do well, they look incredible when it’s like, well, you should be delivering, suddenly they can’t.”

Yuki Tsunoda faces an uncertain F1 future despite his burgeoning reputation

Tsunoda has only scored 91 points in his 88 Grand Prix entries which isn’t the best record.

However, the 24-year-old is on course for his best campaign in F1 this year and has already signed a contract to spend a fifth season with RB.

Unfortunately, the 2025 season could be Tsunoda’s last with the Red Bull family.

Doubts remain over Tsunoda’s suitability to race for Red Bull, but he’s also heavily connected with Honda.

Tsunoda is expected to leave RB in 2025 because Honda’s deal with Red Bull and RB will part ways at the end of next season.

Due to the movement in the driver’s market this year, there are unlikely to be many vacancies on the grid for Tsunoda to try and fill.

The timing of an 11th team in Cadillac potentially joining the grid in 2026 may be just what Tsunoda needs to extend his time in the sport.