Red Bull uneasy with Max Verstappen–Michael Schumacher parallels amid future uncertainty. Red Bull fears a Michael Schumacher-style collapse if Max Verstappen leaves.

Max Verstappen like Michael Schumacher in F1, but Red Bull doesn’t like that comparison. The Austrian team can rely only on the four-time world champion from the Netherlands: since Daniel Ricciardo, no one has come close to his level. If he were to leave Milton Keynes – and rumors are increasingly linking him to Aston Martin for 2026 – Christian Horner’s team could be headed for collapse.

It was 1995, Michael Schumacher’s final season with Benetton. The German won his second world title and, with support from Johnny Herbert, delivered the Anglo-Italian team its first (and only) Constructors’ title. The following year, he joined Ferrari to lay the foundation for what would become the Scuderia’s last great era of dominance. For the team that first placed its trust in him – along with Jordan – the gates of decline opened.

The same could happen to Red Bull if Max Verstappen were to join Lawrence Stroll and Adrian Newey at Silverstone. Deprived of the only driver able to truly extract performance from the car, Red Bull’s fate might mirror that of Luciano Benetton’s team: following Schumacher’s departure, they claimed just a single victory – in 1997, thanks to Gerhard Berger in Germany.

Red Bull is all about Max Verstappen: a problem with no clear solution
This is the scenario analyzed by Sky Sports F1 pundit Karun Chandhok: “It’s been seven years now. For a long time, Red Bull hasn’t been able to find a second driver capable of scoring the points and results they need, ever since Daniel Ricciardo left at the end of 2018. All those drivers who passed through – like Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon – are now delivering results with other cars, aren’t they?”

“There’s something fundamentally wrong with the way that car is designed. It’s too tailored to Max. It reminds me of the Benetton days with Michael Schumacher. When he left, the team won just one race over the next seven years, after having won back-to-back titles, and that’s the risk [for Red Bull].”

“If Max leaves, the entire operation will have to rethink how they design cars for other drivers. Yuki [Tsunoda] isn’t a bad driver. This issue with Red Bull’s second seat has been ongoing for a long time. It should be seen as a warning sign.”