Max Verstappen headache as Red Bull hit with harrowing timeline for F1 recovery

F1 legend Juan Pablo Montoya has warned that Red Bull could face a long road back to the top, suggesting it may take up to four years for the team to recover their dominance.

Max Verstappen has won four consecutive drivers’ titles, enjoying the most dominant season in the sport’s history in 2024, winning 19 of 22 races.

While Verstappen started last year with seven wins in the opening 10 races, Red Bull's form has quickly tailed off.

Adrian Newey’s departure following the 2024 Miami Grand Prix appeared to coincide with Red Bull’s decline on-track.

Verstappen managed to hang on to the lead of the championship, claiming his fourth title at the Las Vegas GP.

However, Red Bull haven’t been a close match for McLaren throughout the 2025 F1 season.

Red Bull’s form led to speculation over Verstappen’s F1 future amid Mercedes interest.

The Dutchman has since committed his immediate future to Red Bull, but next year will be crucial given the team will debut their own engine for the first time.

Montoya sends Red Bull warning

After four consecutive title wins with Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull struggled during the early years of the V6 hybrid era.

Between 2014 and 2020, Red Bull won just 16 races, as they were held back by an underperforming Renault power unit.

Montoya feels that Red Bull will have to wait several years before rediscovering their title-dominating form again following numerous high-profile departures.

Besides Newey, Jonathan Wheatley left the team for Sauber, while Christian Horner was axed as team boss last month.

“On the engine side Red Bull have the right people. The question is have they come together in time to build the engine,” Montoya told CoinPoker.

“I think they might surprise people with the power unit and that it might not be as bad as people think it is. They took all the top people from Mercedes, the top people from Ferrari, people from everywhere. They have a massive amount of information. It takes time to collate and integrate.

“The problem now for Red Bull next year, is that before you had one guy Adrian Newey that made the final decision on what went on the car. Now, everybody's coming with new ideas, everybody's trying things, and at the end of the day, the guy leading the direction is a different guy.

“What does Red Bull do now? You're putting really good people in charge, but really good people with no experience of being in charge. You lose Christian, Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley; that’s a huge loss of leadership.

“It's going to take three or four years for them to come back to the dominance they had. In business like we have seen at adidas, a new CEO came in and it took him over a year just to understand the problems. Now they are flying.

“The problem with struggling a few years is that if they’re not winning, then Helmut Marko will go. So, who’s left?

“Let’s say you bring in Vettel, he’d be ok on the driving side, but he has no political experience in how to run a company.”