Zak Brown responds to Red Bull Sergio Perez lifeline with ‘driver challenges’ dig

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown claimed they are free of the “driver challenges” experienced by Red Bull, who have opted to retain Sergio Perez.

Despite signing a new multi-year Red Bull contract ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix, Perez failed to escape a fresh alarming slump in form which plunged his position in the Red Bull line-up into uncertainty.

Zak Brown weighs in on Red Bull ‘driver challenges’

Red Bull themselves fuelled the speculation over Perez’s future by stressing their need to have two drivers performing as they bid to retain the Constructors’ Championship for a third successive year, with McLaren now only 42 points behind.

Perez impressed in Belgian GP qualifying, putting his Red Bull on the front row for the last race before the summer break, but a disappointing drop to P8 on race day – which became P7 after race winner George Russell’s disqualification – drew fresh criticism from Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko and team principal Christian Horner.

With Perez’s future a topic on the agenda when Horner and Marko met the following day, the expectation was that Perez would lose his Red Bull seat, but instead it was announced that he will remain a Red Bull driver after the summer break.

Brown acknowledged Perez as an “excellent” driver, but severely down on form, pointed out to Red Bull that McLaren do not have such “driver challenges” with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri proving a pretty equal match, Norris P2 in the Drivers’ Championship with 199 points and Piastri two positions back on 167.

Asked by Sky Sports F1 whether he was surprised that Red Bull chose to retain Perez, suggested to him that Red Bull may struggle because of it, Brown replied: “Yeah, it’s a tricky one.

“They’ve kind of found themselves in a situation where they’ve got two teams and young driver programmes and they’ve kind of found themselves in the situation where they’ve got one driver leading the Championship and another that I think is seventh in the Championship.

“He’s a great racing driver, he’s won races, so we all know he’s very capable of winning at any point, but seems to be a bit of an issue at the moment.

“I don’t know all that’s going on there, but it’s for them to sort out. I’m happy I don’t have driver challenges!”

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While the Constructors’ title, which McLaren has not won since 1998, looks like the more realistic achievement for the resurgent McLaren in F1 2024, Brown said his team have their sights set on claiming both crowns.

Norris is the closest challenger to Red Bull’s three-time World Champion and Drivers’ Championship leader Max Verstappen, but has a 78-point deficit to tackle.

“They’re both priorities,” said Brown when asked if the Constructors’ title is the priority over the Drivers’ Championship.

“Because ultimately to win the Constructors’, we need our two drivers to be as high up as possible.

“I’d like to see both drivers in the top three. We’ve got second and fourth right now. And the closer we get to the Drivers’, the closer that’ll get us to the Constructors’. So we’re going for both because all points count.”

The F1 2024 season resumes with Verstappen’s home race, the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, on August 25.

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