Verstappen to have a new race engineer in 2026?

That is the claim of former Formula 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya, who was commenting on the situation at Milton Keynes following the exit of Red Bull motorsport consultant Dr. Helmut Marko at the end of the 2025 season.

Marko's departure marked the end of an era at Red Bull, as it came after the firing of Christian Horner, who served as the team's boss since its inception in 2005, with Adrian Newey also leaving before that and joining Aston Martin.

Montoya was asked who will replace Marko, with rumors previously linking four-time F1 driver Sebastian Vettel with the job.

"I don't think they're going to put anybody in," Montoya said. "I think Austria is going to start taking control of it. That's what the rumors are saying. I don't know for sure."

But then he dropped a bit of a bombshell, claiming Verstappen's longtime race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, who is also the head of race engineering, will not be the voice speaking to the Dutchman over the radio during race weekends.

"Mekies has done a good job, and I think they're keeping it that way," Montoya said. "You know who is going to be moved up?

"Gianpiero Lambiase, Max's engineer, is being promoted to a more senior role next year, a more managerial role. There's something with his personal life that they mentioned. I don't know what it is. So, he might not go to every race, or he just might not be full-on with the car," he explained.

Montoya referred to Lambiase's emotional moment at the end of the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, head in hands on the pitwall, after Verstappen missed out on a fifth F1 Drivers' Title.

He recalled: "Because you saw he was kind of crying or broken down in the pit box at the end of the race in Abu Dhabi.

"He was sitting there, and he was, like, destroyed because I think he knew this was his last chance. So, Max is going to have to deal with somebody new that he might not be as comfortable with."

With new regulations kicking in for the 2026 F1 season and Red Bull now producing their own power unit in collaboration with Ford after Honda chose to sign with Aston Martin, Verstappen also has other stuff to think about.

Those are mainly related to Red Bull's ability to produce a competitive car for the four-time F1 Champion whose contract ends with the team in 2028.

While Verstappen's brilliant driving has always compensated for the shortcomings of the car, the fact that he couldn't retain his title in 2025 is proof that there is only so much he can do in an uncompetitive car.

And in the event that his future cars at Red Bull are not good enough, when will he decide to leave? Where would he go?

Montoya commented: "Remember that Max, in the last four years where he's been in the best car and you think he deserves to win everything.

"But when it was the other way around, he was scraping for a couple wins a year, and he was scraping to get the best results he could. And he was still amazing, but he wasn't winning.

"This is the hard part," he claimed. "When will he pull the trigger and start looking for a drive somewhere else? Let's say by April or May, he goes, 'Bullsh!t, I'm leaving' and goes to Mercedes, and at the end of the year, Red Bull is winning everything. And he has a Mercedes contract and never wins.

"This is the reality of motorsport; you have got to be in the right place at the right time," Montoya concluded.

(Quotes from Grosvenor Casinos)