The Verstappen-to-McLaren speculation has developed a life of its own. Two people who actually know the sport have now stepped in to pump the brakes: Juan Pablo Montoya and Guenther Steiner, both telling Max Verstappen the same uncomfortable truth: be careful what you wish for.
The Lambiase Illusion
Montoya spent one-and-a-half seasons at McLaren, so he has genuine authority here. His point is simple. Yes, race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase is moving to McLaren in 2028. But the notion that he would be standing on the pitwall guiding Verstappen through every stint? That is a fantasy.
“First of all, Gianpiero is not going to be the race engineer; he’s going to get a much higher senior role. If Max goes that way, he’ll have him there, but he’ll be higher up in the hierarchy. Not directly one-on-one, you know?” – Juan Pablo Montoya
Lambiase would arrive at a completely new organisation with different programmes, different mentalities, and a very different culture to absorb. Verstappen would face the same adjustment, without the benefit of a trusted ally in his ear on race day.
Norris’s Team, Not Yours
Montoya raises a second uncomfortable point: Lando Norris is the centrepiece of the McLaren project. Not as a criticism, simply as a fact of how the team has been built. Arriving as a superstar and expecting to reshape the whole operation takes time and leverage that Verstappen would not immediately possess.
Guenther Steiner, never short of a direct opinion, reinforces the argument. He questions the logic of walking away from a team where Verstappen’s voice carries genuine weight.
“The McLaren team is not any better than where he is at Red Bull. So I think if you were to ask Max honestly, what do you think? I think he would say he would stay put.” – Guenther Steiner
The Case for Staying Put
Montoya dismissed Aston Martin as a serious destination entirely, given how far the team currently sits behind the frontrunners. That leaves McLaren as the only credible alternative, yet both men argue it is not an obvious upgrade. Recent meetings in Amsterdam between Verstappen, Jos, and Helmut Marko confirm that friction exists at Red Bull, but friction and a broken relationship are two very different things.
Verstappen has spent a decade understanding Red Bull’s culture, hierarchy, and language. At McLaren, he would arrive as a high-profile guest in somebody else’s house. Red Bull’s internal situation is complicated, but complicated is not the same as finished.
The rational case for staying is solid. Whether Verstappen is in a particularly rational frame of mind right now is a different question altogether.
