Jacques Villeneuve thinks Max Verstappen is more expendable to Red Bull than their long-serving team boss Christian Horner.
Red Bull hope to keep both but that may not be possible if their internal power struggle gets worse. Verstappen has not publicly gone against Horner but he is loyal to long-serving adviser Helmut Marko, who has fallen out with the team principal.
Verstappen has already publicly threatened to quit the team if Marko walks away. And Mirror Sport understands that, if it comes to it, Red Bull believe the Dutchman would be easier to replace than their leader of almost 20 years.
That stance has been backed by former F1 driver Villeneuve. The 1997 drivers' champion pointed at Fernando Alonso as an example of a driver he believes could deliver the goods in Red Bull's all-conquering car.
"Who is to say that Horner is not the huge asset? He has been at the heart of the team for so long with a lot of championships under his belt. He has always managed to get the team to a winning standard," the Canadian told OLBG.
"The decision on drivers was always Marko's. But he was not running the team day to day. Would the team be as good without Horner? That is a difficult one. Would the team win without Verstappen? Probably. Max is winning because he has an amazing car and Red Bull is winning because they have an amazing driver.
"But he is not the only amazing driver that exists. Put Alonso in that car and he would be winning as well. Max is the image of Red Bull, so he is super important for them. Red Bull is Max and Max is Red Bull. The link is super strong.
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"The same thing happened in the past with Sebastian Vettel. No-one could imagine him driving in another team. It just looked weird. But when it happened people just went with it - and they ended up winning with someone else. So, a team is always bigger than the driver."
Villeneuve also backs Carlos Sainz, who will leave Ferrari at the end of the year, to be able to do a good job if picked up by Red Bull. He added: "He is a very mature driver and very intelligent. You saw that in the Singapore race last year. He won the race for Ferrari.
"He has a lot of strengths but does he have that extra tenth of a second that Verstappen has? Don't know. Is he capable of massaging the car the same way that Max does? I haven't seen anyone massage a car like Max does."