Verstappen dealt Red Bull blow as key ally tipped to REJECT promotion

Max Verstappen has been dealt a huge blow as Sky Sports F1 pundit Ted Kravitz revealed his thoughts on who might take a key role at Red Bull in the future.

The reigning Formula 1 champions have had a tumultuous 2024 season, with off-track chaos culminating in a decline in performance for a team who managed to win 21 out of a possible 22 races in 2023.

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While Verstappen looks set to claim a fourth consecutive drivers' championship title, Red Bull have a real fight on their hands from McLaren and Ferrari if they want to retain their constructors' crown.

Off the track, two Red Bull stalwarts have announced their departures, with design guru Adrian Newey leaving at the beginning of 2025, and Jonathan Wheatley jumping ship to become team principal at Audi.

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Who will replace Red Bull departures?

On top of these key departures, team principal Christian Horner has been embroiled in a saga surrounding accusations of alleged inappropriate behaviour, although was recently cleared of any wrongdoing following an appeal to the initial findings of an internal investigation.

With a plethora of changes at the Milton Keynes-based outfit, Verstappen's long-term future with the team has also been called into question, but the Dutchman has managed to claim seven race victories and maintain a hefty gap over closest championship challenger Lando Norris.

Verstappen shares a close relationship with race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase (GP), although the pair's friendship may have been tested in recent weeks with a number of fiery radio exchanges.

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Now, Kravitz has suggested that, despite rumours linking Lambiase with the sporting director role left behind by Wheatley, Verstappen's ally may not want a bigger role within the team.

"Who will they get to replace [Wheatley] is the other question," Kravitz said on the Sky Sports F1 podcast.

"Being such a valuable guy in terms of the rules and keeping a razor sharp race team, how will they divide it up?

"I can think of quite a few guys within Red Bull who were mechanics but have risen through to senior roles. Wheatley used to be a chief mechanic at Benetton. I can imagine those guys moving up, they know the rules as well.

"Some people have speculated that Gianpiero Lambiase might go into that sporting director role. I don’t think he wants to leave the cut and thrust, and the fun, of racing every week. That is fun, until it’s not. It’s fun winning races and championships. I’m not sure if GP wants to leave that.

"Red Bull will promote from within. They might get two people. A chief mechanic who will run the race team pit stops, and they’ll find someone who knows the rules well for the sporting director role."

Whatever Red Bull decides to do, Horner certainly has his work cut out for him if the team wishes to continue their domination of the sport as the new regulations come into play.

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