F1 star claims Red Bull may have already found Max Verstappen replacement

Verstappen after Sprint at Silverstone — Photo: © IMAGO

Red Bull

F1 star claims Red Bull may have already found Max Verstappen replacement

Max Verstappen has been linked with a move to McLaren

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Tuesday 14 July 2026 22:30

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A iconic F1 star has suggested that Red Bull have already found their replacement for four-time world champion Max Verstappen.

Having not won a race so far in 2026 due to the limitations of his RB22, Verstappen's future at Red Bull has been called into question, despite being contracted with the team until 2028.

Verstappen's manager Raymond Vermeulen recently confirmed that there are performance-based exit clauses in that contract, and Red Bull have certainly not provided Verstappen with a car capable of challenging for world championships amid the regulation changes in F1.

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A number of potential suitors have been rumoured to be lining up a move for Verstappen over the past couple of years, but as it stands McLaren seem to be the favourites to secure his signature, with the Woking-based outfit already having signed Verstappen's close friend and race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase from the 2028 season.

That has led to suggestions that Oscar Piastri could move the other way to Red Bull, while Oliver Bearman, Carlos Sainz and Arvid Lindblad are just a few of the other names linked with a move to Red Bull to replace Verstappen.

Now, Juan Pablo Montoya has opened up on the driver situation at Red Bull, hinting that Isack Hadjar could well be the driver to win world championships for Red Bull in the future.

Hadjar the man to carry Red Bull to championships?

Montoya hinted that one of the candidates for Verstappen's seat, Lindblad, has not done enough to warrant a Red Bull promotion, while also claiming that Red Bull have found their long-term 'new Verstappen' in his team-mate Hadjar.

"Look, Linblad is doing a good job, but I think others are doing better this year," Montoya told AS Colombia. "But for Linblad, there was space. Given the timing this year, I don't think there is any space [at Red Bull].

"If Max leaves, it's a different story, because then Red Bull has to decide if they take someone else, if they move Linblad up and take rookies, and they stay within the Red Bull structure or do something different.

"The difference is that the person who always made those decisions was Helmut, and Helmut is no longer there.

"One of the last people who worked out that way [driver academy] for Red Bull, a major one, is named Max Verstappen. So it's all relative. Now they have Hadjar."

F1 Red Bull Max Verstappen Isack Hadjar Juan Pablo Montoya