A lot of paddock talk right now is circling one big “what if”: what happens at Red Bull if Max Verstappen actually decides to leave.
Jolyon Palmer, the F1 TV analyst and former driver, thinks Red Bull shouldn’t automatically reach for someone already inside its own system. Instead, he argues they should look outward—specifically at Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc—should Verstappen’s future become clear the way Misryoum understands signals are pointing.
This comes on the back of another reshuffle at Red Bull. Misryoum newsroom reported that Gianpiero Lambiase has transferred to McLaren, and another key figure is set to leave the Milton Keynes-based team. Red Bull’s Head of Racing is following the path of Rob Marshall and Will Courtenay, who have both previously moved on to other teams. And yeah, when you line those names up, it stops feeling like random churn.
Misryoum analysis indicates that Verstappen is also wrestling with a decision that’s been brewing for a while—whether to continue competing at all. He hinted at it during the Japanese Grand Prix, and since then there’s been increasing chatter that his future with the Austrian outfit is becoming increasingly clear. Continuing at Red Bull Racing appears to Misryoum to rank below several other possibilities, not because of one single incident, but because the overall picture is tightening.
Palmer’s logic is pretty blunt. According to him, “If money is no object, probably Charles Leclerc.” On the F1 Nation podcast, he said Leclerc has been at Ferrari a long time, is “supremely talented,” and could be tempted—particularly if Ferrari can’t show this year that they can win a title. He even framed it as a straightforward gamble: “I still think there’s a title in him,” the Brit concluded.
Still, there’s a catch, and it’s the kind that keeps coming up when people talk about a Leclerc-to-Red Bull scenario. Ralf Schumacher has already warned the Monegasque driver about this possibility. Misryoum editorial desk notes that on the Backstage Boxengasse podcast, the former F1 driver said it would be wiser for Leclerc to remain at Ferrari, arguing that “Red Bull in its current situation is not really an option.”
Schumacher’s point, more or less, is that Red Bull is back in a longer-term phase, especially around engine development—something they’ve supposedly done well so far. He also added, and this part matters, that he doesn’t know if it makes sense for Leclerc to leave a team that’s “now just starting to work.” And then there’s the reference to a foreseeable risk: he can’t imagine Ferrari considering it, because the “Lewis Hamilton situation is foreseeable under normal conditions, also just because of his age.”
It’s not hard to see why fans get pulled into the drama of it all. One minute you’re hearing about transfers and departures in the walls of a racing HQ; the next, you’re imagining the lineup for next season like it’s already decided. And somewhere in that noise, it’s easy to forget the human stuff—the quiet moments before a session, the faint smell of race fuel hanging around the garages. Palmer sees a move that could work. Misryoum newsroom reported the caution that comes with it too, and honestly, the debate feels like it might not settle until Verstappen finally makes the call.
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