Formula 1: Red Bull Racing need to improve to keep Max Verstappen in 2021

Max Verstappen is set to return to Red Bull Racing in the 2020 Formula 1 season. But if they hope to retain him for 2021 and beyond, they will need to make big improvements.

Entering the 2019 Formula 1 summer break, it appeared as though Honda and Red Bull Racing had taken the next step in what is the Japanese manufacturer’s first season supplying engines to the Milton Keynes-based team after the latter ended their 12-year partnership with Renault following the 2018 season.

In the four races leading up to this break, Max Verstappen had been victorious twice in the Austrian Grand Prix and the German Grand Prix, finished in second place after starting from the pole position for the first time in his career in the Hungarian Grand Prix, and finished in fifth in the British Grand Prix after being spun by Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, hampering his chances of finishing on the podium.

During this four-race span, Verstappen’s point total of 81 was 18 points higher than the next highest point total, which was that of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Lewis Hamilton.

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But since the summer break, the 22-year-old Dutchman has not been able to secure many solid results for Red Bull Racing, and a lot of this has to do with their lack of improvements relative to the other top teams on the grid. On the flip side, Ferrari went from winless through the season’s first 12 races to winners of three of the last four races following the summer break.

In an interview on Dutch show Peptalk, here is what Jos Verstappen, Max’s father and a former Formula 1 driver himself, had to say about Red Bull Racing.

"“The expectation was that we would close the gap this year, but it doesn’t look like that yet. We have to work hard and the team has to change things to close the gap, otherwise next season will be a lost year as well. Everyone is building a new car for the new season, but we’ve now had a year to close the gap with this car and we haven’t come any closer. So why should we be able to close that gap next year?“I’m concerned about that and the team really needs to make some changes in order to be able to fight for the championship. When I look at the last few races, we’re half a second short [for Japan]. Of course they try to do everything they can to close the gap, but you can’t close a gap of half a second in two weeks’ time.“Max can’t do much about it at the moment, as we depend on the team. We’re a little behind with the car, we’re a little behind with the engine. We need to work harder on those two things if we want to be able to go for the championship next year. You could see it in the last two races when he got out of the car and did the interviews. Then you’ll notice the frustration with Max as well.“He does everything he can, but this is not up to Max. That’s what makes it so difficult. Put him in a good car and he will challenge for the championship. We’ve been at Red Bull for a couple of years now and it doesn’t look like we’ll be able to compete for the world championship next year.”"

While it may seem biased coming from his father, what Jos says is true. There is no driver on the grid who can outperform his car quite like Max can, and the fact that he has just one podium finish in the four races since the summer break ended speaks far more about the team’s lack of progression than it does about anything else.

If Red Bull Racing want to retain Max for the 2021 season, they are going to need to make some major improvements, as Max and Jos have both made clear that the goal for 2021 is for Max to be with a championship-caliber team.

It is no secret that Mercedes and Ferrari have both shown interest in him.

There was speculation that Verstappen would leave Red Bull Racing after the 2019 season to replace Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes ahead of the 2020 season even though he signed a three-year contract extension with Red Bull Racing in October of 2017.

This was thought to be the case because of a performance clause in Verstappen’s contract, which both team manager Helmut Marko and Verstappen’s personal manager, Raymond Vermeulen, confirmed existed.

However, because Verstappen entered the summer break in the top three in the driver standings, Marko confirmed that this clause had expired, effectively locking the seven-time Grand Prix winner into his contract in with Red Bull Racing for the 2020 season.

But for the 2021 season, he is completely open, and if Red Bull Racing can’t make the necessary improvements, they won’t be the team to alter that openness.

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Will Red Bull Racing do enough to retain Max Verstappen for the 2021 Formula 1 season? Will he be a championship contender with the team if they do? If they don’t, for which team will he drive in 2021, and will he be crowned champion driving for that team in his first season driving for them?

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