Max Verstappen has once again proven in recent Grand Prix races that we should never count him out in the title fight. He quickly made up over sixty points on World Championship leader Oscar Piastri, who now seriously fears for his first title. The difference with Piastri and Norris is now 40 and 26 points respectively. McLaren CEO Zak Brown takes Verstappen’s threat ‘very seriously’ and emphasizes that the Dutchman is at the top of his game.
Zak Brown has never wanted to write off Verstappen as a title candidate, not even when McLaren drivers Piastri and Norris had built up a comfortable lead. The American looks back with some nostalgia at the turbulent summer period at rival Red Bull, when the team seemed to implode due to the departure of team boss Christian Horner. “The arrival of Laurent Mekies has stirred up a lot there – at least, that’s how it seems when I look at it from a distance,” he told De Telegraaf. “Red Bull seemed to be falling apart completely, but now there seems to be peace again. That’s less good news for us, of course,” he laughed, although there was also a serious undertone between the lines.
‘Thought Max would go to Mercedes’
“I have long thought that Max (Verstappen, ed.) would move to Mercedes after this season, but that’s not going to happen,” Zak Brown continued. “In fact, lately there has been no talk about his future at all. That says everything about the performances of him and Red Bull, and about how well he is doing. Verstappen seems better than ever right now. It would be foolish not to take him very seriously in the title fight.”
When asked how McLaren plans to counter Verstappen’s rise, Zak Brown reiterated that the team will not designate a first driver. “We have always said that we let them race each other, as long as it is fair and respectful,” he emphasized. “You can’t always prevent incidents in this sport, but it’s about how you solve them together afterwards. So we’re not suddenly choosing one of the two. We only do that when it’s mathematically impossible for one of them to become champion.”
