Red Bull sent firm instruction over potential Max Verstappen replacement

Former F1 driver Martin Brundle has issued Red Bull an instruction over its approach to potentially replacing Max Verstappen at the end of the year. 

Verstappen has suggested he could walk away from the sport at the campaign, having voiced his dislike for the new cars. 

The four-time champion would leave a significant hole in Red Bull's set-up and require the team to search for an adequate replacement.

Red Bull has run through various drivers across the last handful of years, with many struggling for form alongside Verstappen.

Their poor form led to a quick dismissal from the squad, which Brundle stated was not the right approach.

“They all got burned by Verstappen's brilliance and by the culture that was there,” he told Sky F1.

“You're getting out of the car, picking the phone up to Dr Helmut Marko, or Christian, or anybody else, it couldn't have been very good. 

“If you look at the love that Mercedes gave Kimi Antonelli when he was on the missing list for nine races last year, it shows you how that works much better.”

However, some drivers, such as Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon, have gone on to enhance their reputations elsewhere on the grid.

Should Red Bull need to find a replacement for Verstappen, Brundle asserted that the team shouldn't ignore its former drivers just because of previous history.

“But you could say the same for Alex Albon, to the extent Carlos Sainz, Liam Lawson, they all got burned by that culture there,” he said.

“So I think Isack Hadjar is lucky in a way, that he's in a more comfortable place to make his mistakes and learn his trade as you all have to do. 

“You have to make those mistakes. 

“I can see if Red Bull do need a driver, they would have to consider somebody like a Sainz or a Gasly or whatever.

“If they cut them all out of the equation because they've already been there once, I think that would be missing a trick.”