Ross Brawn believes the solution to Formula 1’s domination problem is to have “someone more competitive” in the second Red Bull car partnering Max Verstappen.
The RB19 is the class of the 2023 F1 field, with only one competitor outside of the Milton Keynes outfit – Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in Singapore – able to secure a victory.
However, within the Red Bull camp, it has been a one-sided intra-team battle, with Verstappen the clear victor over Sergio Perez, who arrived at the team in 2021.
The Dutchman has 17 GP wins to Perez’s two and wrapped up a third successive Drivers’ title in Qatar with five rounds to spare, but Brawn believes there is a solution to mitigating Verstappen’s dominance if the promise of a challenging team fails to materialise.
“We’re seeing little indications,” Brawn told TalkSport of a potential challenger to Red Bull.
“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].”
Brawn recalled his time as Team Principal at Mercedes, when he made the decision to hire Lewis Hamilton alongside Nico Rosberg for 2013.
The childhood friends turned rivals contested for the World Championship until the final round in both 2014 and 2016 before the German retired after his title triumph.
“Even when you get a dominant car, if you get someone in the other car who’s giving them a hard time and we think of Rosberg and Hamilton, that was a great year and year when Mercedes were dominating,” Brawn added.
History predicts that Red Bull’s dominance will more than likely continue into 2024 – and the team intends to continue with the same driver partnership next season as well.
Perez, despite his troubles, remains under contract with the Milton-Keynes-based outfit for a further season even amid rumours abound of his potential replacement.
One suitor with an eye on the second Red Bull seat is Daniel Ricciardo, who has made an F1 comeback this season with AlphaTauri after two difficult seasons with McLaren.
Injury has interrupted the Australian’s comeback, but he has a full season at AlphaTauri next year to prove his worth to the Red Bull hierarchy.
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