Red Bull chief rules both Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez out of F1 2022 title race

Red Bull Racing advisor Helmut Marko appears to have ruled out the prospect of either Lewis Hamilton or Sergio Perez winning this season’s Formula 1 world championship.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and current title holder Max Verstappen have taken a pair of victories each in the opening four rounds of the season so far, with the Monegasque holding a 27-point advantage thanks to the retirements in Bahrain and Australia which cost the Dutchman two likely second-place finishes.

Mercedes are currently unable to challenge for race victories as they struggle to adapt to Formula 1’s new era of technical regulations, which has seen ground effect aerodynamics return for the first time since the 1980s. The Silver Arrows have been the fastest team on the grid since 2014 but are toiling so far in 2022, with a car which bounces intensely at high speed on the straights and which is simply slower than its rivals through the corners.

Hamilton ruled himself out of title contention after finishing a lowly 13th at last Sunday’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, and sits just seventh in the standings, a whopping 58 points behind Leclerc.

Perez, though, has been enjoying an impressive start to the campaign. He took pole position at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix before being compromised by a poorly-timed safety car period, and has finished second both at Albert Park and Imola.

But Marko, who oversees the development of Red Bull’s young drivers and attends each race weekend, told German-language outlet Auto und Motor Sport that he he believed the title fight was only between Verstappen and Leclerc, and added: ‘The only other talented driver I still see in this league is Lando Norris, but he doesn’t have the best car at the moment.’

The lack of mention