Zak Brown would be ‘very concerned’ about Sergio Perez’s form if he was Red Bull

McLaren CEO Zak Brown says he would be “very concerned” about Sergio Perez’s current F1 form if he was in charge of Red Bull.

Perez started the season strongly and finished second to teammate Max Verstappen in three of the first four races, but the Mexican has not stood on the podium since the Chinese Grand Prix in April and is currently enduring a torrid run of form.

He has retired twice and not finished higher than seventh in the past five rounds, as well as suffering a string of early qualifying exits, leaving him fifth in the championship, 119 points adrift of Verstappen.

“I would be, which I’m sure they are, very concerned about the lack of performance,” Brown told media including Crash.net at Silverstone when asked if he would be considering making a driver change if he was in Horner’s position.

“But I like Sergio, so I wouldn't want to comment further on that.”

McLaren sit third in the constructors’ championship, 87 points behind Red Bull. As Red Bull’s nearest challengers in recent weeks, Brown reckons his team could yet win the title, but admits it will be “dependent on Perez”.

“I think it’s going to be dependent on Perez, at the end of the day,” he said. “Because you’ve got to assume that Max is going to be first, second or third at every race, the balance of the year, probably more firsts than thirds.

“Sergio underperforming is what’s opening the window for us. I think if we have the same points gain we’ve had the last six races, the balance of the year, we’d get the job done. So we're fully aware of it.

“But the way Andrea motivates the team, it’s all about this weekend, the next session, and then next week. So we know we can do it. But that’s not what’s driving our motivation. What’s driving our motivation is to try and be better every session, every week, and kind of the outcome will take care of itself.”

Brown insists McLaren are ready to go “toe to toe” with Red Bull, but stressed his side are not prepared to get “nasty” in order to win.

"We're prepared to go toe to toe,” he explained. “Nasty is not how McLaren goes racing. I think you can go toe to toe, but you don’t have to be nasty about it.

“They seem to at times have a win at all costs mentality. That’s not how we go racing. But we think you can go toe to toe and take the fight to them our own way.”