One thing I have learned through sometimes bitter experience over the years is never to look a potential story in the mouth.

So it is this column’s happy duty to reveal that Flavio Briatore sat on the terrace of the Red Bull hospitality suite in Qatar in long conversation with Christian Horner.

Briatore is Fernando Alonso’s fabulously shrewd manager. The old goat is also Horner’s mate and — hang on a minute! — poor Sergio Perez is struggling to drive so much as a nail right now. So you don’t need to be a professor of logic to see how there could be a space opening up as Perez’s replacement to take on Max Verstappen in the top machinery.

I put this theory to Red Bull insiders but they insisted Alonso, 42 and in fine fettle at Aston Martin, is not in their thoughts for next season or the one after. ‘Not a chance,’ I was told.

What we can be even more definitive about is that, however poor his form, Perez will not be axed before his home race in Mexico, seven days after this weekend’s grand prix in Austin. That would be abysmal PR. It would anger sponsors and partners, and that’s before you think of the hostile fan response.

There could be a space opening up as Perez’s replacement to take on Max Verstappen in the top machinery

Red Bull are, of course, weighing up their options. They say their priority is to help Perez find his feet. He is signed up for next season, has been loyal and largely driven well, sometimes defending with brio at important moments, most memorably in Verstappen’s championship-clinching race in Abu Dhabi two years ago. 

He remains second in the championship table, a statistic which, if he holds on, would surely ensure his ongoing employment.

Daniel Ricciardo, due to return here in Austin after breaking his left wrist in August, is on hand to move up from AlphaTauri should Perez flunk it. The Australian is first in line for the job, but, aged 34, is unlikely to represent a long-lasting solution. Don’t forget, either, that four years ago he ran away from the fight with Verstappen to join Renault, laughing all the way to the bank.

It would be a huge shock to see Alonso join Red Bull and insiders have stated he isn’t being considered

Red Bull say the priority is to help Sergio Perez find his form but he is in a precarious position after struggling this season

The Ferrari duo, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, are contenders for the longer term, along with the McLaren boys, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

These impressive younger guns, perhaps easier to manage than Alonso and certainly with more road ahead of them, militate against the Spaniard forming half of the partnership the sport is crying out for. But stranger things have happened in Formula One. And, if it comes to pass, remember where you read it first.

WHY WE’LL TOAST FELLOW F1 ADDICT PARKES IN AUSTIN 

The season is clearly too long for purpose. Especially so when one man renders the outcome a foregone conclusion practically before it starts.

Yet, Formula One remains a drug strangely so addictive that many of those who have snorted it as regular travellers on the road find it hard to kick.

An example. A fellow journalist, Ian Parkes, who works for an Australian website and contributes to the New York Times, had major heart surgery in Northern General Hospital, Sheffield, on September 11. In the process, he suffered a collapsed lung and required an emergency pneumothorax.

Five weeks later, he has flown 10 hours to Austin to report the race. Further good news is that prior to the operation Ian promised to stand a bottle of champagne for a few of his pals if his Maker didn’t have alternative plans. One imagines it is a pledge he is even happier than we are that he is able to honour.

Formula One remains a drug strangely so addictive that many of those who have snorted it as regular travellers on the road find it hard to kick

CASINOS STILL RULE THE ROOST IN VEGAS

Lights out in Las Vegas at 10pm local time on Saturday, November 18, serves only television’s insomniac night owls on America’s East Coast, where it will be 1am, and is only good for early Sunday risers in Britain, 6am, and Europe, 7am.

The reason for the scheduling is that the casino and hotel owners insisted on it. This is their prime time on site, and if Formula One wanted to set up a stall on their turf, these were the terms.

F1 bosses, who are holding their breath that the inaugural shindig on the Strip comes together, further factored in that diehards in Europe, bless their souls, will tune in regardless.

The Las Vegas GP will get underway at 10pm local time next month because casino and hotel owners insisted on it

BECKS AND LEWIS CUT FROM THE SAME CLOTH

Watching the highly entertaining Beckham documentary on Netflix, I was struck by remarkable similarities between old Golden Balls and Lewis Hamilton, beyond their status as British sporting icons.

Both were dedicated young sportsmen dreaming of making it big from small beginnings. Both were blooded young (Beckham at United; Hamilton at McLaren).

Both announced themselves with fanfare (Beckham with a goal from his own half against Wimbledon; Hamilton with an opening season so dazzling you could scarcely believe your eyes).

Both were turned over the tables in the temple (Beckham with his sarong and Mohawk haircut; Hamilton with his bling and even more outlandish clothes. Both living in a celebrity bubble bigger than their sports).

There are similarities between David Beckham and Lewis Hamilton beyond their status as British sporting icons

The key difference is that unlike Beckham, Hamilton, for some years, was the best in the world at his sport

Both had run-ins with, and eventual break-ups from, their sporting father figures (Beckham with Sir Alex Ferguson; Hamilton with Ron Dennis). Both were stubborn when crossed or motivated by core beliefs.

Both fight causes beyond the white lines of their sport, challenging the mores of their conservative occupations. Both can be contradictory in this (Beckham in taking Qatari millions despite his liberal views on sexuality; crusader Hamilton in so much as his wages are subsidised by the hard-line Malaysian government’s oil company Petronas in partnership with Mercedes).

Both remained (mostly yet staunchly) dedicated to the professional sport that defined them, even though their own desire and marketability led them to wider cultural terrains.

One difference, perhaps, is that, for all his talent, Beckham was never the best player in the world. Lewis, for some years, was the best driver in the world.