Red Bull are in a “very complicated” situation with their driver line-up no matter how events unfold, believes Juan Pablo Montoya.

The seven-time Grand Prix winner believes neither a struggling Yuki Tsunoda, or the driver he replaced at Red Bull early in the season, Liam Lawson, are strongly wanted in the second Red Bull seat, while Montoya sees a “chance” Verstappen could leave, this claim coming after Verstappen’s former mechanic tipped him to “call it a day” after F1 2025.

Red Bull driver situation: ‘Complicated’ at every turn?

Red Bull triggered a Tsunoda for Lawson swap after just two rounds of the season, as Tsunoda moved up from Racing Bulls and Lawson returned to the junior team, but Tsunoda has failed to make a strong impression so far, scoring just seven points in seven race weekends.

It makes the second Red Bull seat a situation which the team may need to re-address once more down the line, but the future of their reigning four-time World Champion Max Verstappen has also been brought into focus, after Calum Nicholas – Verstappen’s former senior engine technician turned Red Bull Racing ambassador – tipped him to win the F1 2025 title and retire.

Speaking over a round of golf on Lucas Stewart’s YouTube channel, Nicholas was asked to ‘fill in the blank’ on how many World Championships Verstappen will finish his Formula 1 career with, and replied: “Five.

“I think Max is going to win the Drivers’ this year, and then I think he’s going to call it a day.”

Asked if he knows something we don’t here, Nicholas clarified: “No, I definitely don’t know anything.”

While Verstappen is the underdog at this stage, a 49-point gap to Championship leader Oscar Piastri is not impossible to overturn only nine rounds into the season.

And in addition to Verstappen’s F1 future – with Nicholas’ theory joining a sabbatical, and a Mercedes or Aston Martin switch as the other claims churned out by the rumour mill – Montoya does not believe Tsunoda or Lawson are seen as strong candidates to nail down the other side of the garage.

“[Tsunoda] started very well and in the last few races he is getting worse,” Montoya stated to W Radio Colombia. “What’s going to happen there? And Lawson is not doing so well either.

“Red Bull is in a complicated position because they have a chance of losing Max, they don’t want Tsunoda and they probably don’t want Lawson [either].

“They’re not in an easy position. Everything that comes their way is very complicated. But we’ll see. I think that 2026 is going to be a very interesting year.”

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The obvious omission from the equation is Lawson’s Racing Bulls team-mate Isack Hadjar, the Frenchman turning heads in his rookie F1 season with 21 points scored so far.

But, former Red Bull junior Sebastian Montoya – Juan Pablo’s son – thinks there is a problem for Red Bull there too.

“I don’t think Hadjar wants to go up to Red Bull,” he suggested.

Red Bull does have another impressive talent in their driver arsenal, that being 17-year-old Brit Arvid Lindblad, who has positioned himself as a contender for the 2025 Formula 2 title.

While his age makes him ineligible for the required FIA Super Licence to race in Formula 1 – Lindblad not 18 until August – PlanetF1.com understands that Red Bull has lodged a special dispensation request for Lindblad which would allow him to obtain his Super Licence before turning 18, if judged to have ‘consistently demonstrated outstanding ability’.

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