Verstappen Open to Ricciardo or Perez as 2024 Red Bull Teammate as Seat Speculation Grows

On Thursday at Interlagos, ahead of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, Max Verstappen was asked who he wants beside him at Red Bull next season. He named two drivers and picked neither. Either Sergio Perez or Daniel Ricciardo, he said, would be fine with him.

The question hangs over the team because of the numbers. Verstappen is a triple world champion and has won 16 of the 19 races run in 2023. Perez, the 33-year-old Mexican, is under contract for 2024, but his form next to Verstappen's has kept talk about his future alive.

Ricciardo, 34, is the name most often put forward as a replacement. The Australian was Verstappen's teammate from 2016 to 2018 and returned to the Red Bull family this season with AlphaTauri, which leaves him as the favourite to take Perez's seat. Last Sunday in Mexico he finished seventh, the best result AlphaTauri has managed all year.

Verstappen, 26, was careful about where his influence ends. "They have been great teammates and it's not up to me at the end of the day to make these kind of decisions because I'm very focused on my own performance," he said. If it is Perez, he said, the working relationship has been strong and he thinks Perez is a great guy. If it is Ricciardo, he said, the two will get along fine. He then added a hedge: F1 can be a tough sport, these questions get asked, and perhaps nothing happens at all.

Ricciardo said no talks with Red Bull have taken place about next season. According to him, everything around his 2024 contract has involved AlphaTauri, and that is as far as it goes.

The standings add another layer. Perez is fighting for second overall and sits 20 points clear of Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton with three races left. Red Bull have never finished a season with their drivers first and second in the championship. Verstappen said he is confident Perez can stay ahead, because he believes Red Bull has the faster car on average.

A separate piece of paddock gossip reached Interlagos too. Fernando Alonso, the 42-year-old Spaniard who joined Aston Martin at the end of last season from Alpine, was linked in social media comments after the Mexican Grand Prix with a surprise move to Red Bull as Verstappen's teammate. Some of that chatter suggested he was losing faith in Aston Martin, and questioned his loyalty.

Alonso rejected it. He said he is not demotivated, still enjoys the project, loves the team, and believes it had an incredible season even though the car is not currently fast enough. Rumours, he said, are part of Formula One, and the people spreading these ones are social media accounts chasing followers. "It's a shame and I will make sure there are consequences," he said. He did not say what those consequences might be.

With three races remaining, the immediate question is whether Perez holds second place. Whether Red Bull changes its line-up for 2024 is a question for later, and so far neither Red Bull nor the drivers have said anything that settles it.