Red Bull ‘dream team’ report emerges as Sergio Perez hits back – F1 news round-up
It’s been another busy day of F1 news, as the merry-go-round of the sport keeps on whirling in a busy week off the track.
We have another exclusive interview for you today, alongside further reaction to the sacking of Nyck de Vries and the possible future of the Red Bull drivers.
Anyway, there’s plenty to get through, so let’s get cracking.
Red Bull ‘dream team’ reported for medium-term
A report from Italy claims that Formula 1 owners, Liberty Media, are pushing for the top teams in the sport to field two top drivers at the same time so that, if one is dominant, there is a proper fight for the World Championship all the way through the season.
With Red Bull filling that spot at the moment, attention has turned to how their line-up might look in the years to come, with both Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc claimed by Formul1a.uno to be under consideration to partner Max Verstappen from the 2025 or 2026 season.
The report claims Red Bull even held preliminary talks with Ferrari driver Leclerc at the end of May, with his deal with the Scuderia set to expire at the end of 2024.
Read more: Liberty push for Red Bull ‘dream team’ as candidates emerge to partner Max Verstappen
Sergio Perez hits back at rumours around his future
While his future at Red Bull has come under the spotlight after a typically ruthless move to replace Nyck de Vries with Daniel Ricciardo at AlphaTauri is coupled with a run of five races without a place in Q3 for Sergio Perez, tongues have begun wagging about whether or not the final 12 races will see the Australian effectively ‘audition’ for his seat for the 2024 season.
As for the Mexican however, he accepts that he needs to get back to the form he showed in the early part of the year, but the conversations others are having about the seat he currently occupies does not bother him in the slightest.
“If I’m honest, I couldn’t care less,” he said as per Motorsport.com.
“I’ve been in Formula 1 for 13 years and I’ve seen everything. I’m not worried about that. My main focus is on finishing my season and making sure I continue to enjoy it.
“The whole team is behind me and they know what I can do. They know my potential and they support me.”
Read more: Sergio Perez delivers emphatic response to rumours of impending Red Bull demise
Exclusive: Valtteri Bottas chats to PlanetF1.com about what the future holds
Valtteri Bottas sat down for a candid interview with PlanetF1.com’s Thomas Maher at Silverstone as he revealed his intentions to stay at the team for when Alfa Romeo transition to Audi come 2026.
Alongside that, he offers his thoughts on how the current drivers are doing at former team Mercedes, and much more about what he and his current team need to do to push themselves further up the field.
The Finn is on good form as he chats through what has been a frustrating season so far overall, which he hopes will turn around sooner rather than later.
Read more: Exclusive Q&A: Valtteri Bottas on Alfa Romeo weakness, 100% F1 commitment, and holding out for Audi
Mercedes detail more about upgrade plans for this and next season
After Toto Wolff warned to media including PlanetF1.com at Silverstone that Mercedes would have “no choice” but to switch full focus to their 2024 challenger soon, technical director James Allison said there are still some parts to come on the W14 yet.
But even more than that, given that the regulations for 2024 look relatively stable for the moment, Allison said that the team may be able to transfer some of the knowledge from what they place on this car into next year – so adding upgrades to the W14 will have benefits beyond the short-term.
He then said: “Whether it will all settle down for the final sort of quarter, one third of the season, we’ll see. Hopefully, we’ll have our noses in front and be able to have a strong second half of the season.”
Read more: James Allison weighs in on upgrade race amidst Toto Wolff’s 2024 warning
Max Verstappen addresses fan concerns about his invincibility
Now, for any of the hardcore Max Verstappen fans who are loving every minute of this Formula 1 season, others are beginning to worry about whether or not the Red Bull driver will even be beatable at all in the RB19 at the moment.
With a run of six consecutive wins and having flown out to a 99-point lead after 10 races – the highest points lead at this stage of a season in Formula 1 history – he is cruising his way to a third consecutive World title.
Not that he cares too much about that, however.
When asked about fan worries of his dominance by Channel 4, he responded: “It’s Formula 1 at the end of the day. I mean, it happened before in F1.
“You only have like the odd season or one or two seasons in a row where maybe there are a few more teams fighting. That’s very, very rare in the sport.”
Read more: Max Verstappen responds to fan disappointment that he can’t be beaten