Red Bull handed staggering '10th fastest F1 team' ranking

Red Bull would be the 10th fastest team on the F1 grid if Max Verstappen were to be absent from the squad, according to former F1 strategy engineer Bernie Collins.

Verstappen has enjoyed a success-filled period of late, winning four consecutive F1 championships from 2021 to 2024.

In that time, Sergio Perez struggled for consistent form in the second Red Bull car and departed the squad at the end of last year, with the team bringing in Liam Lawson to replace him.

However, Lawson lasted just two races and has been demoted back to Racing Bulls after two torrid race weekends in Australia and China respectively.

It has been well documented the Red Bull car has been developed to Verstappen's strengths, which Collins stated should have been taken into consideration when choosing Perez's replacement. 

"I think they're in big trouble," Collins told Sky F1. 

"I think that they should have looked at the younger talent and said, 'who is the most forward aero balance [driving style]?'. 

“That's what we believe the characteristic of that car is, it's very on-the-nose and very different to the Racing Bulls in characteristic.

“So they should have looked [at which] of their young drivers is driving the closest to that spectrum, they are the one who is going to succeed the most.

"They should have maybe put all of them in an old Red Bull for a day and said 'who can get the best lap time out of this car?'.

“That’s one metric of doing it because the Racing Bulls is fundamentally different.”

Collins produces extreme evaluation of Red Bull

Lawson is not the first young driver who has struggled to perform alongside Verstappen at Red Bull.

Pierre Gasly was called up to the team at the start of 2019 when Daniel Ricciardo departed for Renault but lasted just half a season before he was dropped in favour of rookie Alex Albon.

Albon was afforded more time to prove himself but was ultimately replaced at the end of the 2020 campaign.

Collins argued the situation is so extreme at Red Bull, the team would be last on the grid without Verstappen.

“[Look at] people who have failed in the Red Bull - [Alex] Albon is a great example,” Collins said.

“He is driving brilliantly in the Williams and arguably if you offered him the Red Bull seat again he might not go back because that car is not to his liking and has probably got worse in the last few years.

"If Max leaves or doesn't show up at a race, they are currently the 10th fastest team.

“I was criticised last year for saying, when Checo was there, that if Max didn't turn up for race, they were the fourth fastest team.

“But at the minute, they’re 10th fastest.”