McLaren chief executive Zak Brown believes his team has been given an “open window” to compete with Red Bull for the Formula 1 championship following Sergio Perez’s continued struggles.

The Woking-based team has continued its resurgence from last season in the first half of this season, with Red Bull leading the charge with Lando Norris constantly pressuring Max Verstappen for victory. The victories of Charles Leclerc , Carlos Sainz , George Russell and Lewis Hamilton also helped him take points away from the Dutchman, who lost points when he retired from the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix. But while the three-time champion has been a model of consistency, team-mate Perez has almost repeated his mid-season slump last year with a similar dip in form this campaign.

The Mexican has failed to crack the top five since the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix – a seventh and two eighths were the only times he scored points in the six races since then, a The race included crashes in Monaco and Canada, while a spin on the gravel during qualifying at Silverstone left him hopelessly out of the race. His struggles have helped McLaren close the gap to 78 points in the championship race and while Ferrari remains ahead in second, the Scuderia have suffered a decline in form since Monaco. When asked about his team’s prospects in the battle with Red Bull, Brown said: “I think ultimately it will depend on Perez. “You just have to assume that Max will finish first, second or third in every race throughout the year – probably first more often than third.

“Sergio’s underperformance is what’s opening the door for us. I think if we have the same points we’ve got in the last six races, the rest of the year, we’ll be done. So we are completely aware of that. “But the way Andrea motivates the team, it’s all about this weekend, the next training session and the next week. We don’t… we know we can do it but that’s not the driving force we. “What motivates us is to try to improve every training session, every week, and the results will come naturally.” McLaren has not been in the hunt for an F1 title since the 2012 season, Hamilton’s last season driving for the team, followed by a mid-decade slump with Honda that is only now recovering.

While the door may be wide open, Red Bull’s fast start this year before rivals started adding upgrade packages to their cars has given the team some breathing room in the competition. top of the rankings. But when asked if any discussions were held within the squad about its chances of success, Brown replied: “I think we’re all [talking]. I think we’ve all gone to Bahrain and said ‘yes, that’s the championship’. “It’s going to be epic. Mercedes seems to be very fast. Ferrari also, about two races ago [Monaco], Charles won. “So you will feel like there are four different teams all winning races in the second half of the year. It’s great – it’s unfortunate that the season doesn’t start now.”