What will Red Bull decide?
Max Verstappen’s continued presence at Red Bull Racing in 2026 remains a crucial anchor for the Milton Keynes team amid a turbulent period marked by the departures of key technical figures Rob Marshall, Adrian Newey, Jonathan Weathley, and the recent dismissal of team principal Christian Horner.
Helmut Marko’s talent pipeline has recently struggled to produce a new Verstappen-level star, and Arvid Lindblad, a young driver in whom Red Bull has placed high hopes, has not yet shone convincingly in Formula 2. After a promising start to the season, Lindblad has found it difficult to stay in contention at the top of the championship standings. His ambitions were further hampered by his disqualification from the Feature Race at Spa-Francorchamps.
According to former Formula 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya, who closely follows Formula 2 due to his son Sebastian’s involvement in the category, Lindblad is not yet ready for Formula 1: “In my opinion, Lindblad is not ready for Formula 1, and at that point they will have to decide who to drop from Racing Bulls,” Montoya told the Colombian edition of AS. “Tsunoda or Lawson? I believe Hadjar will be promoted to Red Bull, and anyway, 2026 could be very complicated for both Red Bull teams because they will debut as engine manufacturers, which certainly won’t make things easy for Lindblad.”
In recent races among Liam Lawson, Isack Hadjar, and Yuki Tsunoda, the best performer has been Liam Lawson, who was demoted to Racing Bulls after just two races in Red Bull’s main team. In the second half of the season, Isack Hadjar will have to defend his candidacy for Red Bull’s top team, while Lindblad has four remaining Formula 2 races to try to reverse his recent trend. Although his promotion does not seem in doubt, the situation is evolving — especially as from next year, with Red Bull no longer partnered with Honda, there will no longer be restrictions keeping Yuki Tsunoda in Formula 1 driving a car sponsored by the energy drink brand.
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