Formula 1: Red Bull Racing have bigger problems than Max Verstappen rumors

Red Bull Racing have far bigger problems than worrying about what Max Verstappen decides to do ahead of the 2020 Formula 1 season.

By stating last month that Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport executive director and CEO Toto Wolff had been in contact with Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing team manager Helmut Marko started rumors that Verstappen may leave the Milton Keynes-based team to drive for the Silver Arrows ahead of the 2020 Formula 1 season.

But Red Bull Racing have far bigger problems on their hands than worrying about the future of Verstappen and the rumors surrounding it.

First of all, there are several reasons as to why the 21-year-old Dutchman would not leave Red Bull Racing at the end of the season simply pertaining to the extremely small likelihood that any seats will be available at Mercedes or even Scuderia Ferrari, the two teams that, along with Red Bull Racing, have combined to win each of the last 122 races going all the way back to the 2013 season.

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This is the case despite the fact that the contract extension that Verstappen signed in October of 2017 to continue driving for Red Bull Racing through the 2020 season reportedly contains a performance clause that would allow him to seek other options following the conclusion of the 2019 season if the team do not give him a car that is capable of winning this year’s championship.

Red Bull Racing are certainly not yet on the championship level of Mercedes, and they are still a bit off of the level of Ferrari, but they have started off the 2019 season far stronger as a whole than they have started recent seasons, and they expect to close their performance gap up to their two big rivals in the very near future. In other words, the performance clause in Verstappen’s contract extension may end up becoming obsolete anyway.

But all supporting cases aside when it comes to Verstappen returning to Red Bull Racing for the 2020 season, the team have bigger problems on their hands as it is.

The first of these problems isn’t really a problem at this point, but it is something that they cannot afford to lose focus on; otherwise, it could become one. That situation pertains to where they are currently at in regard to their performance.

Their first season using Honda engines after ending their 12-year partnership with Renault has indeed started out strong, but they need to maintain their focus on improving not only as it pertains to Honda but as it pertains to their chassis as well, as they are clearly not yet where they truly want to be.

As obvious as it may seem, it is worth stating that their focus on improvement should not be just with the goal in mind to retain Verstappen beyond the conclusion of the 2019 season or even for the long-term future but simply to put themselves in a better position when it comes to competing with Mercedes and Ferrari as soon as possible, perhaps even by around the middle of this season.

The second problem for Red Bull Racing is a problem that has been brewing since pretty much the qualifying session for the season opener, the Australian Grand Prix, and it appears to be well on its way to reaching a boiling point. That problem is the underperformance of Pierre Gasly in his first season driving for the team.

The six Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing drivers are naturally expected to finish each race in the top six. The five Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing drivers not named Gasly have all finished each of the season’s first four races in the top five. Gasly, meanwhile, has finished in the top six just once, as he finished in sixth place in the season’s third race, the Chinese Grand Prix.

Through the season’s first four races, Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas leads the driver standings with 87 points. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc sits in fifth place in the standings with 47 points, 40 points behind Bottas. Gasly, meanwhile, sits in a sixth place tie in the standings with just 13 points, 34 points Leclerc and 74 points behind Bottas.

Gasly’s lackluster performance to start the 2019 season has sparked rumors that he may be replaced by Red Bull Racing not only before the season ends but perhaps in the very near future, and the two primary replacement candidates for him are Scuderia Toro Rosso teammates Daniil Kvyat and rookie Alexander Albon.

With Toro Rosso being the Red Bull Racing junior team, Red Bull Racing’s decision when it comes to Gasly is particularly important because of the ramifications that it could have on the future of their organization.

The last time Red Bull Racing replaced a driver before a season ended was in the 2016 season when they replaced Kvyat with Verstappen following the season’s fourth race. Verstappen has since elevated himself to the status of potential future world champion.

Verstappen has undoubtedly been one of the top drivers in the sport since that time. He earned the first five victories of his career at an age when no other driver in Formula 1 history had even earned one victory.

Additionally, who replaced Kvyat at Toro Rosso late in the 2017 season? Gasly. For which team does Gasly now drive? Red Bull Racing. Who replaced Gasly when he replaced the Renault-bound Daniel Ricciardo at Red Bull Racing ahead of the 2019 season? Kvyat. Who is now seen as a possible replacement candidate for Gasly and could return to Red Bull Racing as a result of it? Kvyat.

It almost goes without saying that Red Bull Racing’s decision in regard to who Verstappen’s teammate will be moving forward will be far more complex than a simple driver switch.

At this point, the subject of Max Verstappen’s future with Red Bull Racing beyond the conclusion of the 2019 Formula 1 season is a non-issue, just like the rumors surrounding it. Red Bull Racing have other issues to focus on, and that one is hardly worth mentioning at this point. Fortunately, team principal Christian Horner does not seem to be too concerned about the matter, which bodes well for the team when it comes to where their priorities currently lie.