Brundle highlights ‘paying the price’ Verstappen effect at Red Bull

Martin Brundle believes Red Bull is “paying the price” for how good Max Verstappen is and his domination of F1 over the past few seasons.

Despite his fourth drivers’ title being a more difficult affair for the 27-year-old, he prevailed against the emerging force of Lando Norris and McLaren to take his championship by 63 points come season’s end.

Since Daniel Ricciardo left for Renault at the end of 2018, Verstappen has routinely and systematically demolished his team-mates, with Sergio Perez now consigned to the scrap heap of Red Bull second drivers, despite surviving four years in the role.

The 34-year-old ultimately cost the Milton Keynes team a third-successive constructors’ crown after his form completely fell away from him six rounds into the year, never to be recovered.

The subsequent 18 grand prix yielded just 49 points, as Red Bull fell behind McLaren and Ferrari in the final standings, its lowest finishing position in five campaigns.

It is now the turn of Liam Lawson, stepping up to the plate after a mere 11 grands prix, one fewer than Alexander Albon had when he replaced Pierre Gasly midway through the 2019 season.

However, it remains to be seen if the New Zealander is the solution to Red Bull’s difficulties in finding an appropriate partner for Verstappen after he pipped former Racing Bulls team-mate Yuki Tsunoda to the role.

“Red Bull are paying the price for having the brilliance of Max Verstappen in the team,” Brundle said on Sky Sports F1. “They don’t really have the obvious solution.”

Verstappen is known for liking a sensitive front-end to his car, something Red Bull has provided its four-time drivers’ champion since Ricciardo left the team.

To many drivers in F1, it is an uncomfortable characteristic to live with. Verstappen’s father, Jos, highlighted the need for a more “neutral” car, one that a team-mate will be able to get accustomed to, but Helmut Marko has defended the direction, saying it is “only natural” the team adopt such an approach.

Albon referred to racing alongside Verstappen as a “toll” and likened driving Red Bull cars to playing Call of Duty with the sensitivity all the way up, a comparison Lawson has also since invoked, showing he is heading into his tenure at the team with his eyes wide open.

Red Bull chose the 22-year-old on account of his mental strength, and he himself has argued it is on the driver to adapt to the conditions and requirements demanded of them, signalling a belief that any failure will be worn by him only.

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