What's going on at "one-man show" Red Bull in rapid decline?

With Max Verstappen the only driver extracting meaningful results from the RB21 and Laurent Mekies now installed as Team Principal, Jacques Villeneuve believes the decline is due to deeper issues: a failure to find a teammate capable of supporting their star man in the other car. Yuki Tsunoda is not that driver.

Villeneuve did not hold back when asked what had gone wrong at Milton Keynes: “The team has been going down a little bit. It's not what it used to be. It's not performing like it used to be. They're having a hard time finding a second driver that's good enough.

"It’s a one-man show right now because there's no other driver so far that they’ve put in the car that is capable of working close to the level of Max, including developing the car. That's a big issue for Red Bull Racing.

"And a lot of important people have left the team. Normally, that takes time to rebuild. It is not a short-term project," explained the 1997 Formula 1 World Champion, during an interview with Vision4Sport, providers of Formula 1 tickets and packages

Since replacing Sergio Perez at the end of 2024, Yuki Tsunoda has failed to convince as Verstappen’s teammate. Villeneuve was brutal in his assessment: “Tsunoda is probably the worst of them all so far. A lot of people say it's unfair, that the car is made for Max. But Max might be the only one who actually gives good feedback to the team. So yes, they develop the car, so it gets better and better for him.

“They're not there trying to make it difficult for the number two driver. The thing is, there's not many like Max. If you look in the past, there were more than one at his level in the paddock. And then you had a few good drivers. And then a few average as well.

"Now there are a lot of good drivers instead of only a few. You don't really have exceptional drivers anymore. So, Max really stands out. So, it's hard to put someone next to him. Because if all the drivers that fight each other are barely good, they’ll all look great amongst each other.

“That’s until you get someone like Max and you think, ‘Okay, maybe they're all not good enough!’ So, is it the fact that all the drivers that have been paired with Max so far have all been average drivers?” Villeneuve questioned.

With Red Bull’s 2025 F1 campaign already written off, attention has turned to who should fill the second car next year when Ford enters as a full partner.

Villeneuve named three drivers who could finally provide a true benchmark against Verstappen: “It would be good to see a Leclerc next to Max to see how good he really is. Or it'd be good to put Alonso now next to Max, because that's a known quantity. It'd be good to put Norris next to Max, so we would really see if Norris is exceptional or is he just very good?

“That would help to quantify things. We know that Max is exceptional but then the drivers next to him have just not been good enough and there's no point saying, ‘Oh poor them.’ No, they're just not good enough. That's it. They're barely good. And that's what has happened with Tsunoda. He's had four or five years of experience already.

"He's had his best and clearly, it's not good enough. That's it. So, he's been given this chance and too bad. And he was wanting that chance, he was screaming for it. He was put in and he didn't cut it. It's that simple and you can't feel bad for him. He has been given the chance to be in the top team, and he didn’t cut it.

"He was promoted to the big league and you can see the frustration. And it's making him drive even worse because he knows he's not quick enough right now," said Villeneuve, referencing the huge gap in Qualifying and races between Tsunoda and Verstappen.

Beyond established names, Villeneuve suggested Red Bull could fast-track its most exciting junior: “He has the right attitude for Red Bull. He goes well with Red Bull; he is a typical Red Bull driver.

"It would be worth it to see him in the bigger team because he progresses so fast. He seems to do well under pressure so why not throw him into the den? Then you’ll know right away.”

As Red Bull wrestle with internal turmoil and an uncompetitive 2025 campaign, Mekies faces the challenge of not only steadying the ship but also finding a driver who can finally share the load with Verstappen.

For Villeneuve, the reality is stark: until that happens, Red Bull remains a one-man team and the stats show exactly that after 14 of 24 Rounds of the 2025 Formula 1 World Championship.

While McLaren canter to their second world title in a row with 559 points scored by their drivers so far, Red Bull are P4 in the F1 Constructors standings on 194 points, of which 187 of those were scored by Verstappen.