As Norris pursues Verstappen for the championship, Zak Brown clarifies his previous remarks and softens his stance on the Red Bull star.
As the title race between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen sharpens, McLaren CEO Zak Brown has attempted to downplay the recent discord between his team and the Red Bull Racing driver.
Brown has been vocally critical not only of Red Bull’s budget cap overspend and the Christian Horner scandal, but also of Verstappen himself following an on-track incident involving the triple world champion and Norris earlier this year in Austria.
However, with Norris behind the wheel of the current fastest car on average and striving to close a 70-point gap to Verstappen, the McLaren chief is retracting his steps.
“Max’s car has been very good since 2022. And with Max in it, they were completely unbeatable. I stand by what I said. It might have been interpreted as if I meant he only won because of the car, but that’s not what I meant.”
“Just look at how a good driver like Sergio Perez is performing now. Max is one of the greatest Formula 1 drivers of all time. So, I just want to clarify that.”
Brown also revisited his comments on the Norris and Verstappen crash in Austria, after which he suggested that the Dutch driver lacked respect.
“I found Max to be a bit too aggressive there, and he also received a penalty from the stewards, so I wasn’t the only one thinking that. But I didn’t mean to say he wasn’t a good driver. I raced against his father Jos and have huge respect for both of them.”
“But I can also imagine that not all Red Bull fans are fans of Zak Brown yet.”
Regarding the showdown between Verstappen and Norris for the 2024 drivers’ title, the atmosphere between the two may already be on shaky ground.
Norris described his victory over Verstappen at last weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix as “simply lovely,” a phrase frequently used by the Red Bull driver during his own victories.
“Although they are friends, I know how competitive Max is,” said Daniel Ricciardo, who has been a teammate of both Verstappen and Norris at Monza. “He didn’t take that very well.”
For his part, Brown downplayed the likelihood that Norris could beat Verstappen to his fourth consecutive title.
“I can imagine that Lando might still close the gap in the second half of the season. But Max has already won the first major half and created a significant gap.”
“Mathematically, it is possible to catch up, and we will do everything we can. But it would be naive to say now that Lando will surpass Max. We would need some luck, and he would need to have quite a bit of misfortune.”
“Max has the potential to finish second even on a bad day. And suppose Lando wins eight out of the next nine races and Max finishes second each time, that would still be enough for him to be champion.”
The McLaren CEO does admit, however, that the slowdown in Red Bull’s pace is not surprising to him.
“I hear Horner and Marko making noise, saying the car is not as fast anymore. But a lot has happened there. With Rob Marshall, Adrian Newey, and Jonathan Wheatley, they have lost a lot of experience and talent in a short time.”
“You can’t tell me that hasn’t had an impact, there I disagree with what Max said.”
“Moreover, when you look at staff morale, it’s possible that more people may also want to leave. From the outside looking at Red Bull, it seems to be a troubled place.”
“Christian Horner and Helmut Marko sometimes say completely opposite things in the media, whereas Andrea Stella and I tend to finish each other’s sentences.”
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Brown revisits his critique of Verstappen Brown revisits his critique of Verstappen
