A seismic rumour at the Brazilian GP is that Red Bull Racing is contemplating pairing meteoric Argentine rookie Franco Colapinto with Max Verstappen from 2025.
Red Bull’s patience with Sergio Perez appears to be up, especially with the Mexican qualifying just 13th for Saturday’s sprint race. "He was half a second slower than Max, or even six tenths," Red Bull team boss Christian Horner told Viaplay.
"That’s too much."
Also on Friday, Horner was spotted leaving the hospitality unit of the rival Williams team, who have 21-year-old Colapinto under firm contract for 2025 and beyond - but with no race cockpit to offer him.
Williams boss James Vowles laughed off the visit.
"We’ve recently signed a new coffee sponsor and he really wanted to try it," he smiled. "That was a good part of the conversation."
Horner also played down his meeting with Vowles. "There are no negotiations for yet," he told Sky Italia. "We have Liam Lawson, who is also doing a great job.
"We have plenty of talent in the Red Bull program. There are always various issues to discuss up and down the pitlane, but Franco is doing a great job and we’ll keep an eye on him."
When pressed by reporters at Interlagos, Vowles admitted that "multiple teams" are interested in Colapinto, who has not only stunned F1 with his pace and personality but also the commercial interest he is drumming up within his native Argentina and beyond.
"Our responsibility is both towards him and Williams," said Vowles. "Hopefully we’ll have some great news to be able to talk to everyone about, but today that isn’t available."
Yet another explosive rumour, reported by Kleine Zeitung newspaper, is that Red Bull could oust Perez, extract Carlos Sainz from his Williams deal, leaving Vowles free to run Colapinto alongside Alex Albon in 2025.
Max Verstappen said at Interlagos: "I mean, it’s complicated to answer because he (Colapinto) is still contracted to Williams, and of course he’s doing a great job.
"I think also Williams is probably scratching their heads a bit about what to do with Franco."