F1 star claims Max Verstappen risks losing Red Bull preference to his team-mate

Verstappen in orange cap and navy Red Bull top looking serious at Austrian GP — Photo: © IMAGO

Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen risks losing Red Bull preference to his team-mate, claims F1 star

He's been THE man at Red Bull for years, but...

Chris Deeley

Monday 13 July 2026 21:44

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Former F1 star Juan Pablo Montoya has warned Max Verstappen that he may lose some of the privileges he's enjoyed for years as Red Bull's No. 1 driver.

Verstappen has very clearly been the man at his team since the 2018 season when he stamped his authority on the organisation, to the point that former team principal Christian Horner openly told at least one driver that if Red Bull could just run one car for Verstappen and no second car, they would.

However, as rumours about the Dutchman's future with the team continue to do the rounds, Montoya has warned that some of Verstappen's assumed advantages may start to slide to the other side of the garage.

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Young Isack Hadjar isn't outperforming his more experienced team-mate this year (the points battle is 76-52 going into the Belgian Grand Prix weekend) but he's showing good improvement and, crucially, is publicly fully committed to the team.

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Montoya: Verstappen disruption benefits Hadjar

“Hadjar is doing a good job," Montoya said in an interview with AS Colombia. "Hadjar is coming along, and Hadjar will keep improving. And one of the things that I think the people on Max's side haven't seen is that the more disruption there is in that relationship with Red Bull, the more it creates favouritism in some things toward Hajar's side.

“Because if you think Max is going to leave, or there's a possibility that Max might leave, you have to start focusing on the other driver. And I don't know if Max's side have thought about that.”

All of this, of course, relies on Red Bull genuinely believing that Verstappen could ditch them for a rival team (or retirement!) this year, an idea that his own entourage appear to be selling behind the scenes.

Every team faster than Alpine have been mentioned as a possible destination (plus Aston Martin, before their current struggles), but the big teams have broadly backed their drivers in public to a degree that suggests Verstappen's impending presence on the free agent market may not be as likely as is being suggested by some media sources.

F1 Red Bull Max Verstappen Juan Pablo Montoya