Martin Whitmarsh has contacted Lotus and Force India about getting Sergio Pérez – the driver he has just dropped from McLaren– a seat for 2014. The image of the McLaren team principal as Lady Macbeth, pacing the paddock and attempting to wash the blood from his hands is a tempting one, though not something Whitmarsh would share.

There must be, however, at least a twinge of guilt over his actions. McLaren's dithering evoked images of Hamlet more than Macbeth, before they decided to ditch Pérez after just one year and take a gamble on their development driver, Kevin Magnussen, for next season.

"I am trying to help him get a drive," Whitmarsh said. "People say our decision was terribly late, but what I have said to him is to stand back from it a bit. I've told him the Ferrari seats have gone, the same with Mercedes, Red Bull and Toro Rosso, and in truth he wasn't in the frame for those so he hasn't lost a seat.

"Williams had a seat, but that has now gone. There is a Lotus seat, and one at Sauber, Force India, Caterham and Marussia. So there is no seat closed to him. So I have rung Force India and I have rung Lotus. I have recommended him because he deserves to be in Formula One. He is an exciting driver, and I don't want to talk about why we didn't re-sign him. I would rather say we saw such great potential in Kevin that we decided to sign Kevin. It was not about what Checo [Pérez] did wrong. What Checo did wrong was that Kevin existed."

Superficially, at least, Pérez has been desperately unlucky. At 23, he is 10 years younger than his team-mate Jenson Button, who had been at McLaren three years before Pérez arrived. He has beaten Button in five races, including the last two. There is more to it, however. For McLaren, it is not good enough for Pérez to merely hang in there with Button. They are looking, with some desperation, for the x-factor, some raw pace to complement the reliable former world champion. In essence, they are looking for another Lewis Hamilton and although that might be viewed as a fanciful notion, McLaren believe they have an outstanding talent in Magnussen. Withmarsh has described him as "lightning quick", a phrase he never used about even Ayrton Senna or Hamilton.

Button, like Whitmarsh, believes Pérez can find another employer. "With his experience of working with two different teams [Sauber and McLaren] he's got so much to give another team. He can really help a team in a difficult transition period. He could help a middle-of-the-road team, but also even a top team with his information. I hope he gets a drive next year, for his sake."

Perez's departure could be bad news for Button, who next year could be fighting Magnussen for one seat in 2015 if McLaren succeed in signing Fernando Alonso, whose relationship with Ferrari remains strained.

Meanwhile, Mercedes are still waiting for Ross Brawn to make a decision on whether he intends to stay on as team principal. Speculation has been rife with regard to Brawn's future and that he will step aside at the end of the season. Brawn has long stated he wants to be the point of reference within the team, with Mercedes instead eager to implement less of a pyramid structure.

The team would be led by executive directors Toto Wolff and Paddy Lowe, with Niki Lauda as non-executive chairman. Brawn is likely to reveal his decision after the end of the season. Over the past few weeks Brawn has kept his counsel and refused to discuss the issue, with a decision likely to be made after the season concludes in Brazil next Sunday.Lowe said: "There's been a lot of talk about this [Brawn's position] in the last few months. The fact is Ross will step back at some point. It's not clear what the timing is for that or whether he will step back completely or remain in a different role within the team. At the moment we're waiting for Ross's call on that. In the meantime, I'm working very well with Ross and Toto. There are no issues there, we work very well together. I would like to say there's no impatience on that aspect, so we'll just have to wait and see how it turns out."

At Williams, deputy principal Claire Williams refuted suggestions by Pastor Maldonado they are favouring Valtteri Bottas over the Venezuelan after Maldonado suggested after qualifying that his car had been sabotaged. That was prompted by the fact Maldonado failed to make it out of the initial 20-minute session topped by Bottas, with the duo a staggering 1.5 seconds apart.

Responding to the scenario, Maldonado said: "It was quite a hard beginning of the weekend - yesterday, this morning, in qualifying even worse.

"I never got 100 per cent from the tyres. In my car somebody is playing with the pressures, temperature. It's not that clear. It's one more race to go - great!"

Asked to explain the difference between himself and Bottas, the 27-year-old replied: "It's difficult to say.

"You need to speak to the guys who are working on the car. It's quite clear, but it's a question for them."

That prompted a sharp response from Williams said: "They have equal status within this team. There is no favouring of any driver going on whatsoever."