As Red Bull’s struggles continue, the speculations surrounding Max Verstappen’s future have also become more rampant. The Dutchman has repeatedly stated that he has no interest in leaving Red Bull and is completely focused on helping the team iron out the concerns with the RB21 that have been plaguing their performance so far.
However, that has not stopped experts from speculating about his future. One expert who perhaps loves discussing the same is Sky Sports F1’s David Croft. When the veteran F1 commentator tried to poke Verstappen about what his future may look like if he decides to leave Red Bull, the 27-year-old clearly told him that there is no need to do so.
“Just focus on commentating, I’ll focus on driving, and then you don’t need to think about any other scenarios,” Verstappen said during the Saudi Arabian GP press conference when Croft asked him if there was some truth to Helmut Marko’s claims that he could leave Red Bull if the team’s performances do not improve.
Max Verstappen telling Crofty to “focus on commentating,” instead of making up scenarios pic.twitter.com/uZ0aNp9pyO
— deni (@fiagirly) April 17, 2025
Despite this sarcastic quip by the reigning champion, Croft has gone one step further in speculating about Verstappen’s future. The Sky Sports F1 commentator believes that there is a chance Red Bull could leave F1 altogether if the Dutchman chooses to leave.
“If they lose him (Verstappen), then what does that do for the future of Christian Horner as the team boss, what does that do for the overall battle for power, do Red Bull still want to have a Formula 1 team if they’re not winning races and winning championships, they pour a lot of money into the sport,” Croft said on the Indo Sport podcast.
Croft’s point does seem far-fetched, as it seems unlikely that Red Bull will leave F1 even if Verstappen takes the exit door, as they have achieved success without him. Sebastian Vettel helped the Milton Keynes-based outfit win four consecutive Drivers and Constructors’ titles from 2010 to 2013.
After that, Daniel Ricciardo did show promise and could’ve won a championship if it wasn’t for Red Bull’s car not being competitive enough at the start of the turbo-hybrid era in 2014.
However, Croft’s point seems valid considering things have changed quite a lot at Milton Keynes since the early 2010s. He talked about the power struggle at Red Bull, which has reportedly prompted key personnel like Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley to leave the team.
“He has become increasingly disillusioned with the power struggle going on behind-the-scenes”
Craig Slater on why Adrian Newey has informed senior figures at Red Bull of his desire to leave his position as chief technical officer ❌ pic.twitter.com/7jHnrCOsfn
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) April 30, 2024
This power struggle was presumably stimulated by Red Bull GmbH co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz’s death in October 2022. As the dust settled on Mateschitz’s passing in 2023, reports emerged that their F1 team had split up into two factions.
These reports claimed that the Thai shareholders consisting of the Yoovidha family—who own the majority stake in Red Bull GmbH—backed team principal Horner. Meanwhile, the Austrian faction backed team advisor Marko.
Amid this reported power struggle at Red Bull, Croft believes Verstappen has no reason to stay if the team’s on-track competitiveness also takes a hit and they slip out of win contention. So, next season, when the regulations change, could be a crucial year for Red Bull because if they fail to deliver a race-winning car even then, Verstappen may consider leaving.
The four-time world champion has already time and again stated that he does not plan to stay in F1 for too long. So, in whatever time he wishes to compete at the pinnacle of motorsport, he will want to try his best to maximize his success.
