Staggering Max Verstappen claim aired: 'He has secretly said goodbye to Red Bull'

Former Formula 1 driver Robert Doornbos has remarkably claimed that he believes Max Verstappen has "secretly said goodbye" to Red Bull. 

It has been a difficult start to Verstappen's title defence, with Red Bull developing a car which has several issues and is comfortably adrift of McLaren. 

Despite the problems, the reigning F1 champion is second in the drivers' standings and just eight points behind Lando Norris, courtesy of Verstappen delivering some exceptional results. 

During the Chinese Grand Prix, however, the 27-year-old complained of the RB21 being "too slow" and insisted the team has substantial pace to find. 

The Milton Keynes-based outfit has problems to solve, yet Verstappen has insisted he remains perfectly happy. 

His reaction has surprised Doornbos, who is convinced his fellow Dutchman has already prepared the ground to leave.

"Given this whole situation, Max Verstappen is a little too relaxed," said Doornbos on the TV show Formule 1 Café.

He continued: "I think Max has already secretly said goodbye to the team."

The Lawson situation

Whilst Verstappen has been able to finish both of the opening races in the top five despite a poor car, Liam Lawson has endured a horrific start to his full-time Red Bull career. 

Verstappen's new team-mate is yet to score a point and has failed to progress past the first stage of qualifying in any format. As a result, Lawson's future with the team is already being discussed.

When asked for what he believes Verstappen makes of the current situation surrounding Lawson, Doornbos answered: "He thinks, 'It's Lawson, then it's Yuki [Tsunoda]. I can live with anything. I just want a car that performs better'."

Of the top four teams, Red Bull appears to have the weakest package, or at least the most ground to make up on McLaren. 

In outright pace, it was again comfortably slower than McLaren at the Shanghai International Circuit. Doornbos feels Verstappen did all he could with the RB21 given its current level of performance.

"It was exactly the same again [in China]," remarked Doornbos. "The maximum he could achieve was the podium in the sprint and fourth place in the race."