McLaren CEO Sends Shots At Max Verstappen
McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has come out with a fresh Red Bull opinion that is bound to cause debate, claiming that Max Verstappen is one of Formula 1’s greats, but the Red Bull machinery is key to his dominance. Max Verstappen has been around the Formula 1 summit since 2021. In which he won his first world championship at the end of an epic battle with F1 legend Lewis Hamilton. Max is among the many elite drivers in Formula 1, but CEO Zak Brown believes that if he were on any other driving team, he would find it hard to win a title. When you look at the RB19, it can be described as one of the most efficient and powerful cars in the F1 world. The claim Zak Brown is making indicates that his success comes from his car, and he does this by saying that if he were not in the Red Bull circle, he would find it hard to win.
Brown was asked on the Beyond the Grid podcast whether he would prefer a star driver or designer, to which he replied, “Well you need both. I do not think without a star driver, you are going to win, so you need both. First, it does start with the car. People ask me all the time, ‘Is it a car or a driver?’ And it is like, ‘Well, it’s both.’” Zak believes that both the car and the driver play a huge role, but the car can make the driver stronger. In Max Verstappen’s case, he is an elite driver who also has a strong car, which makes him a level above other drivers. Sergio Perez was also mentioned by Zak, he stated that he does not believe that he can challenge Max in F1 racing.
The 2024 F1 season has had many different turns of events. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz secured a win at Albert Park, and McLaren’s Lando Norris recently got the jump on Verstappen in Miami. Red Bull has slipped up two contrasting times, and it has cost them. The remaining races could give the F1 world a few surprises and cause many different talks about McLaren and Ferrari having more recent success. Verstappen and Red Bull cannot afford to make any more costly mistakes if they want to maintain their lead in the standings.
