Zak Brown plays down criticism of Verstappen

As a title battle between friends Lando Norris and Max Verstappen shapes up, McLaren CEO Zak Brown has moved to play down a recent mood of acrimony.

Brown has been highly critical not only of Red Bull’s budget cap breach and Christian Horner scandal, but also of Verstappen himself following an on-track clash between the triple world champion and Norris earlier this year.

But with McLaren’s Norris now at the wheel of the quicker car and endeavouring to close the 70-point gap to Verstappen, the McLaren supremo is backtracking.

"Max’s car was very good. And if you put Max in it, he was completely unbeatable," Brown told the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf. "That may have been interpreted as me meaning that he only won because of the car, but that is not what I meant.

"Just look at how a good driver like Sergio Perez is performing now. Max is one of the best Formula 1 drivers ever," said the American. "So I would just like to clear that up."

Brown also played down his comments surrounding Norris and Verstappen’s crash in Austria, after which the McLaren CEO suggested the Dutch driver lacks "respect".

"I thought Max was a bit too aggressive there and he also got a penalty from the stewards, so I wasn’t the only one," he said. "But I didn’t mean that he’s not a good driver. Man, I raced against his father Jos and have enormous respect for both of them.

"But I can also imagine that not all Red Bull supporters are still fans of Zak Brown," he smiled.

As for the looming championship showdown between Verstappen and Norris for the 2024 drivers’ title, the atmosphere between the duo may already be on shaky ground.

Norris called his victory at Verstappen’s home Dutch GP last weekend "simply lovely" - a phrase otherwise synonymous with the Red Bull driver’s wins.

"As much as they are friends, I know how competitive Max is," Daniel Ricciardo, who has been teammate to both Verstappen and Norris, said at Monza. "He would not have taken that very nicely or too well."

For his part, Brown played down the likelihood that Norris will be able to beat Verstappen to his fourth consecutive title.

"I can imagine that Lando can close the gap some more in the second half of the season," he said. "But Max has already won the first half and created a big gap.

"Mathematically it is possible to catch up with him and we will do everything we can. But it would be naive to say now that Lando will overtake Max. We’d have to be lucky, and he’d have to have a lot of bad luck.

"Max has the potential to still come second even on a bad day," Brown added. "And suppose Lando wins eight of the nine races and Max comes second every time, that will still be enough for him (Verstappen) to be champion."