McLaren CEO Zak Brown believes the Formula 1 championship fight would be “wide open” if Red Bull had two Sergio Perez’s in the car.

Max Verstappen currently holds a mammoth lead in the Drivers’ Championship after the opening 12 rounds, winning 10 of the races staged so far this year.

The Dutchman sits 125 points ahead of Red Bull team-mate Perez in the standings, who started the year strong by winning two out of the four opening races.

However, Perez endured a difficult run of form by failing to advance into Q3 on five consecutive occasions.

Amid complaints that the 2023 season is too predictable, Brown says that the season would be much more exciting if Verstappen wasn’t in the equation.

“As much as Red Bull’s killing everyone right now… it’s really Max is killing everyone right now,” Brown told ESPN.

“That Max, Red Bull combination is just unbeatable at the moment and Max and the team isn’t making any mistakes.

“If they had two Sergios in the car, with all due respect, this championship would kind of be wide open. So you’ve got something pretty special going on with Max and Red Bull.”

Perez currently sits 40 points ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in third place.

Alonso has scored a handful of podiums this year, as has seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton, with just a single point separating the duo.

Brown added: ”If you take Max out of it and take everyone who’s finished second this year and give them a win, it would be a pretty competitive, exciting championship.

“We’ve had a second, Aston’s had a second, Ferrari’s had a second, Mercedes has had a second, Sergio’s had a second. You would have five teams that would have won a race this year.

“As soon as we all catch up to Red Bull I think that’s going to be the state of play for Formula 1.”

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Charles Leclerc has provided an update on his future in Formula 1, hinting that he is keen to remain at Ferrari beyond the 2024 campaign.

Leclerc’s current contract expires at the end of next year and there have been rumours linking him to other outfits on the grid.

The Monegasque driver has taken five grand prix victories during his stint at the Maranello-based squad to date but has been unable to challenge for a World Championship.

Speaking to Autosport, Leclerc admitted that he has explored the option of departing Ferrari and setting up camp elsewhere.

“Of course, I think every driver has considered their different options, once they get the [possibility],” he said.

However, the 25-year-old says that his primary focus is to remain at Ferrari going forward.

“But I have a huge love of Ferrari. And my first target and my first dream is to become a World Champion with Ferrari, more than anything else.

“So, if there’s a slight opportunity for it to happen, I will have no doubt about pushing to stay here at least.”

Ferrari entered the 2023 campaign hoping to be consistently competing at the front of the field, after returning to the top spot of the podium last year.

However, it has been unable to challenge runaway leaders Red Bull and currently sits fourth in the Constructors’ Championship after the opening 12 rounds.

“It is clear, I think for everybody within the team, that we are not happy with the situation we are in today, in that we want to win,” Leclerc added.

“But I love Ferrari. It feels like home to me. And I cannot say much more because there has been no discussion whatsoever apart from a few jokes here and there.”

Leclerc has been part of the Ferrari family for several years, joining its driver academy in 2016 before being promoted to the F1 squad in 2019.

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Nyck de Vries has revealed that he will take on a course at Harvard after being axed from a Formula 1 drive last month.

Following the British Grand Prix, de Vries was dropped from the AlphaTauri squad and replaced by F1 veteran Daniel Ricciardo.

De Vries was one of three rookies in the F1 field – alongside Oscar Piastri and Logan Sargeant – but struggled to get up to speed in the backmarker AlphaTauri car.

However, he wasn’t considered an ordinary rookie in sport, given his vast racing experience which includes championship success in Formula 2 and Formula E.

The Dutchman struggled during the opening 10 races with the team and it wasn’t long before questions arose regarding his future.

With his exit confirmed before the Hungarian Grand Prix, the 27-year-old was asked by RacingNews365 if his exit was hard to take, to which he replied: “Actually not.

“I had a lot of support and it actually went very naturally. I’ve been playing a lot of golf since then.”

De Vries has not yet revealed plans to get back behind the wheel, but instead will enter a course at Harvard to take on a new challenge.

“I’ve never studied before in my life, in fact, I didn’t even finish high school,” he said. 

“But in September I’m going to take a course at Harvard. Negotiation and Leadership, a little bit of studying. More because I just like it now that I have some time and the interest to learn other things.”

De Vries is not the first ex-F1 driver to seek an academic experience after departing F1.

Earlier this year, former Williams driver Nicholas Latifi revealed that he is studying for an MBA at the London Business School.

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Haas team boss Gunther Steiner has backed Otmar Szafnauer to move on from his Alpine Formula 1 departure “pretty quick”.

During the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, Alpine announced that Szafnauer would leave the team after the event, as well as sporting director Alan Permane.

Szafnauer joined Alpine in 2022 to lead the team following several years at the Silverstone-based squad then ran under several guises including its current Aston Martin label.

While Steiner acknowledges that Szafnauer will be disappointed by how his tenure at Alpine ended, he believes his peer will move on swiftly.

“How it was done is not the normal way, but everybody does it their own way. I think obviously Otmar will be disappointed, but he has been there before.

“If you are in this job, I think most of us have been there before. One door closes, another one opens. In the end, in this job, it is just a difficult job. You are in the public eye; things can happen, and you just have to deal with that.

“I’m not saying that it’s nice to deal with it, but it’s part of it. I think Otmar will be over it pretty quick. 

“As I said he has been there before, and these things they happen, it’s part of our life as a Team Principal.”

Alpine has not yet appointed a replacement, but recent rumours have suggested that ex-Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto is in the frame to take up the position.

The French manufacturer currently sits sixth in the Constructors’ Championship after the opening 12 rounds this year.

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Aston Martin Team Principal Mike Krack has heaped praise on Fernando Alonso amid the Spaniard’s first season with the squad.

Alonso joined the Silverstone-based team following two years at Alpine and has enjoyed a strong start to life at the outfit.

The two-time World Champion scored a series of podiums at the start of the campaign and currently sits third in the Drivers’ standings.

Krack admits that he had high expectations for Alonso but asserts that he has already exceeded them.

“He’s exceeded my expectations – and I had very high expectations,” Krack said. 

“It’s not what he does on track – that I expected – but it’s the way he has integrated into the team. 

“He’s been exactly what we needed him to be: constructive when you have to be constructive; challenging when you have to be challenging. 

“Even critical when being critical is what will move us forward. Understanding that balance is more difficult than people perhaps credit.”

Krack also praised Alonso for his ability to handle media pressure so soon after an on-track session ends.

“The drivers jump out of the car, they’re full of adrenaline and a microphone is shoved in their face. 

“They talk to the media; they do their debriefs and it’s difficult to always hit the right notes in those circumstances. In fact, saying the right thing is the exception rather than the norm. 

“It’s a tough thing to do. That’s why I do not like to give interviews straight after a qualifying session or the race. I want to walk away for a bit and gather my thoughts.

“I don’t envy the drivers. Fernando is fantastic at that stuff. 

“When he sends analysis, it’s always positive, never a bad word: it’s what he’s discovered, what he feels, what worked well, what he’d like to try next.

“I’m not going to make a prediction about his 33rd victory, but we are incredibly determined to do everything we can to make it happen.”

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Red Bull team boss Christian Horner asserts there is “a lot of interest” in the vacant Red Bull Formula 1 drive at the squad in 2025.

Sergio Perez’s contract with Red Bull expires at the end of the 2024 campaign and speculation is already mounting regarding his future with the team.

Perez endured a difficult stretch of races in the opening half of the 2023 season and coupled with Daniel Ricciardo’s recent return to the grid with AlphaTauri amid his hope of a Red Bull return, it appears that there is pressure on Perez’s shoulders to retain his drive.

But Perez and Ricciardo are not the only options available to Red Bull for 2025, according to Horner.

“It’s just the position that we’re in it’s great to have a lot of interest,” he said, speaking to Sky Sports News.

“And it’s not just from those drivers [Perez and Ricciardo] – it’s from drivers outside our spectrum as well regarding 2025.”

It should come as little surprise that there is extensive interest in the seat, given Red Bull’s position in the F1 pack.

The Milton Keynes-based outfit has won all 12 races staged so far in 2023, with Max Verstappen taking 10 wins – including at the last eight races.

Verstappen has a contract in place until the end of 2028 as he bids to become one of the most successful drivers in F1 history.

Although Dutchman has largely out-performed Perez during their stint together, Horner says that Perez remains a valuable part of the team.

“Checo is hugely popular in the team. Let’s not forget what he did in 2021,” he said. “His contribution to our Constructors’ Championship last year. 

“He is second in the world championship this year. He’s the only other driver to have won a race this year, in the two grands prix that he’s won.

“Obviously, our absolute primary objective is to get Checo firing on all cylinders on a Saturday [during qualifying, where Perez has struggled], which I’m sure he is going to do.

“So nobody is writing off Checo.”

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Ex-Formula 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya has questioned Lewis Hamilton’s comments regarding Red Bull’s dominance.

The Milton Keynes-based squad has won all 12 races staged so far this year and currently holds a sizeable lead in both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship.

Max Verstappen is en route to a third consecutive F1 title as he boasts a 125 point advantage over team-mate Sergio Perez.

Verstappen has taken the last eight race wins in F1 and is now just one victory away from matching Sebastian Vettel’s all-time consecutive win record.

Montoya heaped praise on the Dutchman, but asserts that the car has played a large part in his success this year.

“Right now [Verstappen] is doing a very good job, but he looks just as invincible as when Hamilton was winning everything, that’s the reality,” seven-time F1 grand prix winner told Semana.

“Max is a very good driver, but so far in the best car. Max’s speed right now is no better than Max’s speed two years ago, it’s probably the same. The car is much bigger.

“If you take Max out of that car, there are about seven or eight drivers who could be world champions in that car. If he were not there, but Checo, Hamilton, Sainz, Leclerc, they would be World Champion.”

Hamilton enjoyed monumental success with Mercedes from 2014 to 2020, but recently asserted that his team was never as fast as Red Bull is now.

However, Montoya countered that claim.

“It’s very cool to complain when you don’t win, but when Lewis won he said that the car didn’t give him any advantage. Actually, Mercedes’ advantage was as big as what Red Bull currently has,” he said.

“I don’t want to say that Hamilton isn’t good – on the contrary, he is a great driver. But the reality of this sport is that you have to be in the best car.”

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Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko has hit out at reports suggesting that Sergio Perez is facing a contract change at the team.

Perez signed with Red Bull ahead of the 2021 campaign and signed an extension to keep him at the Milton Keynes-based squad until at least the end of 2024.

However, the Mexican driver has endured a difficult season so far, despite taking two wins in the opening four races.

A run of five races in which he failed to reach Q3 placed question marks over his future at Red Bull beyond the current campaign.

Perez scored back-to-back podiums in Hungary and Belgium and currently sits second in the Drivers’ Championship ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.

However, he is 125 points behind team-mate Max Verstappen who is on course to secure his third consecutive F1 title.

Reports following the Belgian Grand Prix suggested that the deficit between the two would mean a salary drop for Perez – a prospect that Marko has dismissed.

“I don’t know where that’s coming from again,” Marko told F1 Insider.

“It’s completely made up out of thin air. The contracts are precisely regulated. There will be no salary cuts.

“Max is driving in a league of his own. There is therefore no reason to think about measures affecting Perez. He still has a contract with Red Bull for 2024.”

Further pressure was placed on Perez’s shoulders following the return of Daniel Ricciardo, who is racing with AlphaTauri until the end of the season.

Ricciardo has outlined that he wishes to return to Red Bull in the near future to see out his F1 career.

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Mercedes’ gap to Red Bull at the start of the 2023 Formula 1 season “took some getting used to”, according to Technical Director James Allison.

For the second consecutive year, Mercedes started the campaign on the back foot and was unable to challenge at the front of the field.

The Brackley-based squad is still yet to take a race win this year, with Red Bull securing all grand prix victories on offer so far.

Mercedes has been introducing upgrades to bring itself back into contention, and on a handful of occasions, has appeared to possess the second-fastest car in the field.

However at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, it was behind Aston Martin and Ferrari, as well as runaway leaders Red Bull.

Allison says its pace at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix took some time to get used to.

“We started off with high hopes,” he said.

“Initially our position relative to the front of the field took some getting used to, but the subsequent reaction by the team has been admirable.

“Quite early, we got a handle on what had gone wrong and have steadily been putting it right since.”

Mercedes has scored a handful of podiums in the first 12 races and currently sits second in the Constructors’ Championship.

In 2022, it became more competitive towards the end of the season and prevailed at the Brazilian Grand Prix, which remains its last win in F1.

Mike Elliot, who works as Chief Technical Officer at Mercedes, admitted it was difficult to discover where its true pace was at the start of 2023.

“Last year we made gradual progress through the season,” he said. 

“We got ourselves into a position where we had some confidence over the winter, hoping to start the season in a better place. 

“To find out we weren’t was a kick in the teeth. But it’s been good to see the recovery path. 

“If you look where we started and where we are now, compared to Aston and Ferrari, we have made good progress.”

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Four-time Formula 1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel has denied that he is in talks to make a return to racing.

Vettel departed the F1 grid at the end of the 2022 campaign, bringing the curtain down on one of the most successful careers in racing.

Recently, rumours sprouted that he could return to the cockpit in Formula E, an all-electric category that just completed its ninth season.

ABT Cupra team boss Thomas Biermaier recently said that one of his drivers for next year would be someone who “cares a lot about the environment and does a lot of sustainability work.”

Biermaier added that it would be a “former driver” and that “maybe” the seat was “going to Switzerland”.

It led to speculation that it was Vettel he was referring to, given that the 36-year-old has advocated for environmental awareness and that he also lives in Switzerland.

But Vettel has denied that he is in the frame.

“I am not in negotiations to run in Formula E with ABT Cupra or with any other team,” he said, as quoted by the Spanish edition of Motorsport.com. 

“Words have been put in my mouth, and I would like to clarify that I am not currently considering a return to motorsport.”

It isn’t the first time that Vettel has been linked to a drive-in Formula E, with founder Alejandro Agag stating earlier this year that he has held talks with the German driver.

“I’ve tried to convince Sebastian to come to Formula E,” Agag said.

“He’s busy, I think he’s got a future job lined up, I’ve heard.

“He’s very committed to sustainability, he’s very committed to many of the values we share. We were not in the right place at the right time!”

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