The Milton Keynes-based outfit dropped the ball in 2024 and fell to third in defence of their Constructors’ Championship.
Despite winning two of the last four races, Verstappen and Red Bull fell behind their competitors towards the end of the season on pure pace.
It means that 2025 could be one which they decide to give up on fairly early, with a view to the 2026 F1 regulations if they are unable to compete with McLaren and Ferrari at the start of the year.
Team boss Christian Horner expects Red Bull to take a massive leap in 2026 when they start using their own in-house engines.
They should also make some progress this year, having made improvements in their second car by dropping Sergio Perez and signing rising star Liam Lawson, but it may not be enough to win both titles again.
Horner and his colleagues took their time before deciding on their second driver, opting to snub Yuki Tsunoda and his 87 races of experience. The team was clearly after a driver with the potential to deliver something special.
Red Bull finished 77 points behind McLaren in the race for the Constructors’ Championship but won the Drivers’ title by 63 points.
The gulf in performance between Verstappen and Perez was huge and it ended up costing the Mexican his seat.
He failed to finish inside the top five in any of his last 19 races with them, despite competing in a car which won nine races.
Speaking about Red Bull’s 2024 season, Guenther Steiner believes it was pretty clear Perez left Red Bull operating a ‘one driver’ team, making Horner’s job as boss even harder.
“I think he’ll remember the 2024 year as the pretty s— year of his life. With all the stuff that happened. It was pretty clear there was only one driver in the team,” he said.
“They couldn’t defend the Constructors’ because there was only one car. I’m not saying Checo isn’t a good driver, but he just wasn’t last year.”
Red Bull’s seemingly never-ending hunt for a second driver alongside Verstappen could be over if Lawson is as good as they hope he will be.
The Kiwi has had two separate stints at Visa Cash App Racing Bulls to prepare him for the step up to partner the reigning champion, which could be one of the toughest gigs in the sport.
Red Bull are urgently training Arvid Lindblad in private tests to get him ready for the jump to Formula 1, but at 17 years old he needs time to develop before being rushed onto the scene.
The Brit has earned plaudits for being one of the most exciting talents in recent history and could be Red Bull’s future after Verstappen.
The four-time champion only has a contract until the end of 2028 and has openly admitted to being open to leaving the sport and racing in another series.
After Aston Martin rumours linking Verstappen to a move away from Red Bull, there’s always the possibility that he could remain in F1 with one of the Austrian outfit’s rivals.
