Red Bull adviser Dr Helmut Marko believes Alpine's Flavio Briatore is not bluffing about potentially dropping Jack Doohan from his race seat in the near future.
Rookie Doohan has arrived for his debut home grand prix in Australia amid swirling pessimism. Melbourne's Age newspaper has suggested the "brutal reality" is that Franco Colapinto stands ready to take his place.
In a new chat with f1-insider.com, Briatore stoked the growing rumours surrounding Doohan and Colapinto.
"Everyone is looking for talent," he said. "Only then can you win the world championship, because the driver makes the difference.
"So I'm looking for fast drivers who can win races," the Italian continued. "In the end, the stopwatch decides - tick, tock, tick, tock. My responsibility is to find the best.
"But I'm not a killer," Briatore maintained.
Alpine team principal Oliver Oakes has done little to quieten the speculation, saying Doohan "should be given a few races before being assessed".
"I'm relaxed. Let's let Jack start first," he added.
Red Bull's famously hard-nosed adviser Marko, however, seems to align with Briatore's view on Doohan. He rated fellow rookie Gabriel Bortoleto a "B-level driver" and labelled Doohan a "C-level driver".
"I don't think he'll complete the season," the 81-year-old told Servus TV.
Meanwhile, reigning F2 champion Bortoleto landed in Melbourne and faced Marko's dismissive comments head-on.
"I saw what he said," the Brazilian, under Fernando Alonso's management, remarked at Albert Park. "I think Helmut brought a lot of talent to Formula 1, but he also brought in drivers who didn't have the necessary talent.
"So sometimes he was right, sometimes he was wrong. But there's certainly nothing I can say in the press now that will change his mind. Only the results on the track count."
