Ross Brawn says he wants to see F1 team move 33-year-old driver on after this season

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Ross Brawn has admitted he would like to see Red Bull Racing replace Sergio Perez with a driver who can get closer to Max Verstappen.

Brawn was speaking to TalkSPORT with just two races left in the 2023 Formula 1 season.

The championship might already be sown up, but there’s still plenty to play for further down the grid.

Only Alpine have confirmed their place in the standings aside from Red Bull before heading to Las Vegas.

There are also plenty of drivers looking to improve their final points tally and earn some bragging rights over their teammates and rivals.

Although virtually every spot on the grid for 2024 has been decided, there are still some drivers under pressure.

One of those racers is Sergio Perez and Ross Brawn has urged Red Bull to drop the Mexican.

His pace compared to Max Verstappen this season has been pretty poor, having failed to beat his teammate since Miami.

Brawn believes that a stronger driver alongside the Dutch three-time champion would create much more exciting racing.

At the moment, it’s not uncommon to see Verstappen at the start of a race and then not feature again until he takes the chequered flag.

Brawn urges Red Bull to drop Perez

The former F1 team boss was asked if other teams will catch up to Verstappen and how they can do it and he said: “Even though they have this domination at the moment, you will see it in time.

“And we’re seeing little indications. I mean McLaren with [Lando] Norris and occasionally [Oscar] Piastri, they’re knocking at the door, keeping them honest, let’s put it that way.

“I think over this winter, I’m optimistic that there will be a reset. When you’re at the front, you have the advantage of being able to start the design of your new car earlier and that’s when that domination can sometimes run for several years.

“What I want to see quite frankly is someone more competitive in the other car because unfortunately Sergio’s [Perez] not putting up much competition for Max [Verstappen].

“And even when you get a dominant car, if you can get someone in the other car who’s giving them a hard time and we think of [Nico] Rosberg and [Lewis] Hamilton, that was a great year and year when Mercedes were dominating.”

Brawn calling for Red Bull to move on from Perez isn’t a great look for the Mexican driver.

The nature of the team means there will almost be two drivers ready to take his seat if he continues to underperform.

Daniel Ricciardo’s statement drive in Mexico alongside Yuki Tsunoda’s impressive outing in Brazil will only ramp up the pressure.

Perez fought brilliantly with Fernando Alonso at Interlagos and missed out on a podium by a matter of milliseconds.

Ultimately, that can make all the difference in a Formula 1 driver’s career.