Jacques Villeneuve has warned Red Bull that it has to find a way to keep Max Verstappen at the team, as he says the team is in a negative spiral and has “not reached the bottom yet”.
Red Bull’s early-season troubles have once again shone the spotlight on Verstappen and his future, with the Dutchman again linked to a move to Mercedes.
Max Verstappen future concern grows as Red Bull struggles
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Although Verstappen still has two years to run on his current Red Bull contract, it is understood the 28-year-old has an exit clause that would allow him to leave Red Bull at the end of this season if he is lower than second in the standings.
After the Barcelona Grand Prix, he is 60 points shy of second-placed Lewis Hamilton.
As reported by PlanetF1.com, Verstappen met with Red Bull’s top brass ahead of last weekend’s Grand Prix.
The meeting included Red Bull GmbH co-owners Mark Mateschitz and Chalerm Yoovidhya, as well as Oliver Mintzlaff, the CEO of Red Bull GmbH.
But while the higher-ups were said to be seeking reassurances that Verstappen would remain committed to the team beyond this season, Verstappen refused to commit. He also reportedly declined the offer to buy out his escape clause.
Villeneuve believes that should be a concern for Red Bull as the team has to hold onto its star driver.
“They need to find a way to try and keep him there because he’s the only good thing in the team right now other than the engine, because as we found out the engine is very good,” the 1997 world champion told the Sky Sports F1 Show.
“It’s become a very political place in the last two or three years. It seems that there’s so much internal strife on who’s going to lead, who’s going to do that, and everybody’s been kicked out.
“It’s really, and it’s very difficult to see a good future at Red Bull, it’s really odd.
“They rode the wave. Right now they’re going down, and they haven’t reached the bottom yet. So that’s a tough one.
“It’s lost its sparkle. Nobody talks about the Red Bull team as, ‘The crazy, fun, fast team. They will always find a solution.’
“No, they’re not even part of the equation anymore. We don’t talk about them. We just talk about, ‘It’s tough on Max, but thank God he’s there because he can still drive this car hard.’ That’s more of the narrative right now. Not the team but Max.”
The Red Bull team has undergone huge personnel changes in the last few years, saying goodbye to Adrian Newey, Christian Horner, Jonathan Wheatley and more recently Helmut Marko.
Verstappen, says Villeneuve, is the last man standing from the team with whom he won four successive titles from 2021 to 2024.
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“They’ve gotten rid of everyone that’s made this team what it is today, which is crazy because even Max arrived after the team had been built,” Villeneuve continued.
“He was the last addition to the team, but now he’s the last remaining soldier, and that makes it really, really tough because he cannot handle the team on his own.
“He’s not a car designer. He’s very good at developing a car, saying what’s needed, but you still need the people around you.”
“But,” he confidently added, “it will be rebuilt, and for that, we need to wait for all the political aspects to be settled.”
Verstappen’s manager Raymond Vermeulen revealed a bit about Verstappen’s thinking ahead of the F1 2027 season.
Vermeulen told Bild: “We have a contract until 2028. Of course there are exit clauses; there always have been. But we’ve never exercised one.
“On the contrary, we’ve always been loyal and will remain so.
“We want to continue on this path with Red Bull and for Max to end his career here – but, of course, with the chance to win.”
Verstappen has secured a solitary podium in the opening seven grands prix and is seventh in the Drivers’ standings on 55 points, 101 behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli.
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Originally published by Planet F1 —
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