Zak Brown plays down perceived Verstappen feud

Dec.3 (GMM) Zak Brown has moved to play down any perceived tension between him and quadruple world champion Max Verstappen.

Brown, the McLaren CEO, approached the Red Bull driver during a live television interview after clinching his fourth title in Las Vegas and told Verstappen “You earned it”.

“Like you said,” Verstappen replied, “before I could only win it in the fastest car. This year has been a little bit different.”

Some regarded the moment as revealing that the Dutch driver still doesn’t forgive Brown for his earlier comments. “Max has a good sense of humour,” Brown has now told the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.

“A joke like that is part of it, isn’t it? It’s just a shame that people sometimes misjudge it. I said that he has now beaten my Senna guy, and then I read back that I compared Lando Norris with Ayrton Senna,” he explained.

“I was just talking about Senna, because Max has been world champion more often than Ayrton now.”

There has been plenty of needle between Red Bull and McLaren in 2024, but Brown insists that his relationship with 27-year-old Verstappen is actually good.

“Do you remember Max saying in Silverstone: ‘who is Zak Brown?’ I sent him a funny message after that and said ‘I want to introduce myself. You may not know me, but I am in charge of McLaren.'”

Verstappen’s ‘Who is Zak Brown’ quip followed a firestorm of criticism from the American towards Red Bull. But Brown says he never attacked Verstappen.

“Later in the season we also met in Monza,” Brown reveals. “I shook his hand and said ‘Now you also know my face!’ So much chaos is created on social media these days.

“And now, I didn’t take offense to what he said in Las Vegas – are you crazy? I’m glad our relationship is good. Max is a smart guy, and I think he knows how the game is played. It’s usually directed at Red Bull, but not him.”