Sky F1 broadcaster Martin Brundle believes Red Bull is “paying the price” for Max Verstappen’s brilliance after he won his fourth Drivers’ Championship.
Verstappen clinched his fourth world championship this year, having weathered a season of pressure as McLaren and Lando Norris came on song in the third year of the current regulations.
Martin Brundle: Red Bull has no obvious solution
However, while Verstappen delivered the goods once again, Red Bull was unable to defend the Constructors’ Championship as the Milton Keynes-based squad slipped to third overall behind McLaren and Ferrari.
Verstappen’s points tally was backed up by a disappointing performance from Sergio Perez, with the Mexican driver’s tally only a third of what Verstappen managed.
It was a season of uncertainty for the second Red Bull, with Perez coming close to being replaced after the summer break as it appeared Daniel Ricciardo or Liam Lawson was set to step into the RB20 – only for the potential seat change to be called off.
At season end, the situation appears to be a case of negotiating an exit for Perez, with Lawson understood to be the favourite to succeed the Mexican driver in the RB21.
But Brundle believes that it’s Verstappen’s brilliance that has hurt Red Bull’s attempts to unearth new talent, and said there is no clear path forward for Red Bull, despite Lawson’s likely promotion from Racing Bulls.
“Red Bull are paying the price for having the brilliance of Max Verstappen in the team. They don’t really have the obvious solution,” Brundle said.
The broadcaster, a former F1 Grand Prix racer himself, said he will be “relieved” when the pressure is finally taken off Perez, comparing the situation to what Ricciardo went through before the Australian was eventually dropped from his Racing Bulls seat.
“I feel the same way about Sergio as I did about Daniel Ricciardo, actually,” Brundle said.
“I have the utmost respect for the person and the driver and the victories he’s had and some of the great overtakes and all the things we’ve seen Sergio do.
“Sometimes in subpar cars, as well, he’s won races without the fastest car on the track. Total respect.
“But I’ll be slightly relieved when it’s over. It must be purgatory for him at the moment.
“He’s lost his mojo, he’s lost his way and all the pressure that’s being heaped on that, it must be [difficult].
“To turn up to the track every day must be painful.”
Liam Lawson: The prospect of driving alongside Max Verstappen is exciting
As for Lawson, the Kiwi driver says he feels ready to step up into the Red Bull alongside Verstappen if the opportunity to join the senior team does unfold.
Speaking to PlanetF1.com, he played down concerns that he could follow in the footsteps of Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon, who both struggled alongside Verstappen after being promoted from the sister squad.
“I don’t know what they felt when they were there,” he said when asked how his confidence differs from that of Gasly or Albon.
“You can always look at it as an outsider and think: ‘This is what it looks like they felt.’ But I don’t know what it was like for them.
“I believe, for anybody to go up against Max, you have to be realistic and know that he’s the fastest guy on the grid right now and that you’re not going to be outqualifying the guy by half a second.
“It’s not going to be something that’s really going to be happening. For me, it’s more the opportunity that’s there to learn from the best.
“For me as a driver, to be able to go in against the guy who’s won four world championships and is well seasoned… he’s been in that car for a long time.
“That car is almost… not developed around him, but he’s been a massive part of developing that car and understands it very well.
“In terms of how to drive it, it’s all right there on paper.
“When you see all the data that he brings in, for me as a driver to be alongside that, to be able to learn from him and have all that access, I think that’s what’s exciting for me about the opportunity… if that opportunity was to come in the future.”