Martin Brundle admits he’s ‘quite worried’ for £12m-a-year F1 driver if Max Verstappen decides to leave Red Bull

Red Bull Racing star Max Verstappen had to settle for his worst result of the season at the Bahrain Grand Prix after a disastrous race weekend.

Max Verstappen was one of six drivers to give up his car for the opening practice session in Bahrain, but it’s unlikely it would have helped him resolve his issues with the RB21.

He would have studied Ayumu Iwasa’s data and seen how his new Red Bull teammate Yuki Tsunoda fared before quickly discovering, once he got into the car, how tough this weekend was going to be.

Verstappen could only qualify seventh for Sunday’s race, three places ahead of Tsunoda, but nearly half a second behind polesitter Oscar Piastri.

Today wasn’t fully our race… but we still brought home our first double points of the season ✌️💪

We’ll regroup, and come back swinging in Saudi 🇸🇦

Result 🏁: PIA, RUS, NOR, LEC, HAM, Max 🙌, GAS, OCO, Yuki 🫶, BEA#F1 || #BahrainGP 🇧🇭 pic.twitter.com/C8qHOXQfRb

— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) April 13, 2025

Unlike the Japanese Grand Prix, where Verstappen was able to produce one of the best laps of his life and defend on a track that’s incredibly tricky to overtake on, he was powerless to stop the likes of Kimi Antonelli and Lewis Hamilton in quicker cars.

Pierre Gasly was gutted to lose out to Verstappen on the final lap, but it speaks volumes that the Alpine driver was able to hold off the four-time world champion for so long.

Verstappen’s manager wasn’t happy at the end of the race in Bahrain, and that’s only going to fuel further speculation about his future.

READ MORE: Red Bull driver Max Verstappen’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

Martin Brundle ‘worried’ for George Russell if Max Verstappen decides to leave Red Bull

Verstappen has been linked with Mercedes, among other teams in the paddock, should he decide to leave Red Bull.

If he determines that Red Bull won’t be capable of recovering from their issues for next season, then he’ll have to start exploring his options elsewhere in the paddock.

Martin Brundle was speaking about the possibility of Verstappen leaving Red Bull on Sky Sports F1 (13/4 2:58 pm) and explained: “I think if Max Verstappen sprang into the marketplace, I would be quite worried for George actually.

“Kimi’s obviously their man for the future, so, there’s a lot of ifs in there, and George is doing a great job for them as team leader.

“But, Toto missed Max once, I don’t think he’ll miss him the second time, should he get the opportunity.”

The £12m-a-year Russell has entered the final year of his Mercedes contract this season, as has his teammate Antonelli.

While that would make an exit simpler for team principal Toto Wolff from a legal point of view, parting ways with one of two drivers he’s helped develop long before they made their F1 debut won’t be easy.

READ MORE: Mercedes driver George Russell’s life outside F1 from net worth to height

What Toto Wolff has said about offering George Russell a new Mercedes contract

There’s not much more that Russell could have done this season to convince Wolff he deserves a new Mercedes deal.

He’s already finished on the podium on three occasions, and has more than doubled Antonelli’s points tally after four race weekends.

In an interview with Motorsport ahead of the race in Japan, Wolff said: “I mean, it is almost an open secret that we have every intention to keep our drivers for the long term.

“We are not disclosing every discussion that we have with the drivers, and that is why this is going in the direction that it should go.

“But there is more to any contract than just giving a driver the fixed guarantee that he is going to be in the car.

“There are terms to it that you need to discuss for the best interest of the team and the driver, so it is a structured process.”

Russell will be encouraged by the positive noises Wolff is making, but he’ll only be able to relax once he’s put pen to paper.

While he may enjoy Verstappen’s struggles after their feud at the end of last season, he won’t want the 27-year-old to suddenly decide he wants to drive a Silver Arrow next year.