Red Bull F1 face Honda issue that could trigger Max Verstappen exit

Honda, Verstappen, social — Photo: © IMAGO

Red Bull Racing

Red Bull face Honda issue that could trigger Verstappen exit

Red Bull F1 team could learn tough MotoGP lessons

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Sunday 30 March 2025 12:56

Understandably the week has been dominated by trigger happy Red Bull and their ruthless choice to replace Liam Lawson for Yuki Tsunoda after just two races.

Following two awful Formula 1 grands prix in Australia and China, the New Zealander has been ditched in favour of the Racing Bulls star who will be Max Verstappen's latest team-mate at his home race in Japan.

There's been a pile on about Honda's speculated involvement in the deal and what it means for Red Bull going forward, but there is an uncomfortable issue bubbling under here that Christian Horner's team risk repeating in a similar nightmare scenario.

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This one also involves Honda, and while it's from the two-wheeled world of MotoGP, it still applies to Red Bull and it's now very much on the horizon and coming into view like a menacing Jolly Roger at sea.

Like Red Bull with Verstappen, Honda struck gold during the 2010s when they landed wonderkid Marc Marquez, who won the world championship in his first season in 2013, and therefore was at the forefront of the bike's development for the following years.

While highly rated team-mate Dani Pedrosa could produce honest results, they slowly diminished. By the time 2018 rolled around, Marquez was strolling to multiple world championships, while the No 2 Honda rider never recorded better than a top-five finish.

In came multiple world champion Jorge Lorenzo to replace Pedrosa - with disastrous consequences in 2019. As Marquez utterly dominated with a season entirely of first and second places (one retirement), Lorenzo never cracked the top 10 a single time. It was an alarm bell that should have been ringing for the team. If even Lorenzo couldn't get the second bike to work - then who could?

What happened to Honda in MotoGP?

Honda's one rider gamble soon got exposed in 2020. Marquez suffered a season-ending injury in his first race and the team's MotoGP domination ended over night.

The team failed to win a single grand prix with Marquez's brother Alex (just two second place podiums) and Marc's replacement Stefan Bradl earning only minor points here and there.

F1 drivers have found it notoriously tough as Max Verstappen's team-mate

Even once Marquez returned a year later, the damage had been done. A year's worth of the Spaniard's feedback had been lost and they haven't recovered since. They have only won three races since the end of 2019 (all Marquez) and lost long time title sponsor Repsol during that period.

A fed up Marquez moved to Ducati in 2024 after prematurely ending his Honda deal, and now on a factory bike for 2025 has made a start to the season that is pointing towards him winning the world championship once again to equal Valentino Rossi's personal record of seven in the premier class.

There is far too much crossover here for Red Bull to simply ignore and just brush it off as a unique MotoGP issue.

Honda have boasted stars like Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi (above)

Could Max Verstappen leave Red Bull?

Liam Lawson is not a bad driver, we've seen that in his first 11 grands prix where he showed enough competence in the junior team to initially earn the full-time seat.

Likewise Sergio Perez, Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly have also proven themselves grand prix racing worthy despite their respective Red Bull nightmares trying to replace Daniel Ricciardo as Verstappen's team-mate. The Australian in this crossover scenario is basically the proxy Dani Pedrosa.

But it's not the No 2 driver problem that Red Bull should be concerned with, it's the No 1 driver. If the car and the team continue to suffer, what happens if Verstappen is lured to a more competitive team who can offer better chances of him winning world championships?

At least in the short term, the team would be left with a Verstappen car that no one can drive - and it doesn't take too much thinking to see a potential net result of two drivers unable to drive the car instead of one.

If you need a clue, ask Honda's two-wheel team on life after Marquez in 2024 - it's being frozen outside of the top 10. Red Bull, you have been warned.

F1 HEADLINES: Verstappen already beaten in mind games as Hamilton makes smart move

Written by

Dan Ripley - Global Editor

I've been a massive F1 fan since the mid 1990s and continue to study the history of the sport long before that. As an experienced motor sport reporter covering F1, MotoGP and the LeMans 24 Hour race, being part of GPFans has allowed me to work with a diverse team with all sorts of different backgrounds in watching the sport and given me a greater appreciation of F1.

View full biography

Red Bull Max Verstappen Christian Horner Yuki Tsunoda Liam Lawson Honda