‘If Red Bull had two Perezes? F1 championship would be wide open’

Verstappen is on course to take a third consecutive drivers’ crown in F1 2023, winning 10 of the opening 12 races.

He’s on course to equal Sebastian Vettel’s record for nine consecutive victories and is likely to do so when F1 returns at Zandvoort - the home of the Dutch Grand Prix.

As Verstappen has excelled in 2023, Perez in the second Red Bull has struggled, particularly since Miami.

Perez has failed to make Q3 on five occasions, finishing second just once since Monaco.

Speaking to ESPN, Brown explained why 2023 would be an exciting season if Verstappen wasn’t in the Red Bull.

“As much as Red Bull's killing everyone right now... it's really Max is killing everyone right now," Brown said.

“If they had two Sergios in the car, with all due respect, this championship would kind of be wide open. So you've got something pretty special going on with Max and Red Bull.”

“If you take Max out of it and take everyone who's finished second this year and give them a win, it would be a pretty competitive, exciting championship.

“We've had a second, Aston's had a second, Ferrari's had a second, Mercedes has had a second, Sergio's had a second. You would have five teams that would have won a race this year.

“As soon as we all catch up to Red Bull I think that's going to be the state of play for F1.”

Brown dismissed fears that Verstappen’s dominance would drive away fans, particularly in the United States, where F1 has grown in recent years through things like Drive to Survive on Netflix.

“No. I think one, the races are uber exciting,” he added. “And it's not just about who wins, right? There's racing throughout the field and the racing's been awesome.

“I think we've seen in other sports, Tiger Woods wins every single time out and ratings were never greater because people admire seeing an athlete at the top of the sport.

“I wouldn't want it to go on forever but I don't think it's hurting us. The depth of competition is fascinating, the races have been super exciting and they tend to cover the whole field.

“I wouldn't want to see it continue, for selfish reasons, but for right now it's totally sustainable."