Zak Brown had no need to wake earlier than usual for his early morning check-in at Heathrow T2 en route to Bahrain on Wednesday. Russell and Red Bull’s hot shot Max Verstappen are favourites for the Mercedes gig next year. Brown agrees, saying: ‘Yes, I think you will see Max and George there in 2022. Lewis wins title No 8 this year and is the winningest driver (most successful) in every category; they have a one-year deal with him. George is coming out of his deal and Max has a deal he comes out of. If I am Mercedes that is a pretty killer line-up for the next five years. ‘The first hard two years were like 20 years, the last two years of improvement have passed like two minutes,’ reflected Brown of his time in charge at Woking.

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