Montoya: I'd be amazed if Verstappen is driving for Red Bull next year

The wonder Red Bull team – the one that took Verstappen to four back-to-back F1 titles, especially in 2023 – is now a distant memory. Disarray and a mass abandoning of ship by top RBR commanders since the Christian Horner sexting scandal is hitting home hard.

Max's father and protector, Jos Verstappen, was spot on when, last year, he predicted Red Bull's collapse:
“There is tension here while he remains in position.. The team is in danger of being torn apart. It can’t go on the way it is. It will explode. He is playing the victim when he is the one causing the problems."

Horner weathered the storm, but it has not been "business as usual" as the Red Bull team boss always claims. While the limp-dicked mainstream media and high-paid TV pundits appear to have given Horner a pass, finally, Juan Pablo Montoya has come out and thrown a reality check into the narrative.

Montoya declared in an interview with the media team at Plejmo: “It’s the beginning of the end of Max Verstappen at Red Bull. For sure it is. But in a way, Max has been pretty blessed with being in the best car.

“But this year is a bit of a reality check. Max wants to win, but if the Red Bull is not competitive, the negotiation is very different. I think the negotiation a year ago before he re-signed with Red Bull, when Toto was very outspoken about signing Max, was very different to what it would be now.

“The number was an insane number. McLaren also reached out to Max to see how much it was before they re-signed Piastri, and the number was insane. So, at some point, Max needs to make a decision: ‘Do I want to try to be in the best car, or do I want to make a ton of money?’”

While the smart money is on Verstappen accepting the alleged "billion-dollar" offer from Lawrence Stroll, moving to Aston Martin and joining Adrian Newey for the next chapter of a marvellous Formula 1 career that shows no signs of slowing down, Montoya has a different spin on Verstappen's future.

Montoya continued: “If I were Max, I would be concerned. Six months ago, he could have asked for any amount of money to go anywhere, and people would have paid it. The way Red Bull is running right now, he could go to Toto and say, ‘Look, pay me less than you had to pay me, but let me drive your car.’ Is he willing to do that?”

Montoya added: “I'll be amazed if Max is driving for Red Bull next year. There's two scenarios for Max. Does he want to win? Or does he want to make a ton of money and maybe win?

“If he wants to win, he's going to go and convince Toto to take him. But if he wants to maybe win and make a ton of money, go with Lawrence Stroll with Aston Martin,” ventured Montoya, who raced for McLaren and Williams during a six-year spell in Formula 1. He is a seven-time GP winner.

Read more on the prelude to Montoya's comments, namely Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko's warning on Verstappen's the future with the team, exacerbated after a well below par weekend for his team in Bahrain.