McLaren team boss Zak Brown on Friday criticized Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko’s comments about Lando Norris’s mental strength, calling them “bad taste”.
Speaking to reporters at the United States Grand Prix ahead of sprint qualifying, Brown said he had read comments from Marko and he found them “disappointing, but not surprising.”
Marko, 81 years old, told the magazine Motorsport that Red Bull “knows that Norris has some mental weaknesses. I have read some of the rituals he needs to perform well on race day“.
He recently claimed that the Red Bull driver and world champion Max Verstappenwho hasn’t won in eight races and defends a 52-point championship lead, had an advantage over his rival Lando Norris because of his “mental strength”.
Brown commented on the consultant’s comments: “I’ve read some things, some comments, that I found disappointing, but not surprising. Lando has been a sort of ambassador for mental health.”
“Toto Wolff (Mercedes team boss) has spoken about mental health. So I think it’s a serious subject that we’ve tried to talk about to put it in the spotlight, so that we can talk about it”, he continued.
“So I think it’s very inappropriate to talk about this situation that takes you back 10 or 20 years, but it’s about having fun and playing with the way some people run and the tactics they use from a sporting point of view, but I thought it was in very bad taste“.
Brown added that Norris was“very excited about these last six races and the sprints” and assured that the Briton was“more focused than ever”.
