Zak Brown has attempted to downplay any perceived tension between him and four-time world champion Max Verstappen, explaining how a game of jokes and quips between him and Max may have led to this image among fans or in the media.
Brown, the McLaren CEO, had approached the Red Bull driver during a live television interview after winning his fourth title in Las Vegas and told Verstappen “You deserved it.”.
"As you said," Verstappen replied, “Before I could only win with the fastest car. This year it’s a little different.”
Some saw the moment as indicative of the fact that the Dutch driver still has not forgiven Brown for his previous comments.
"Max has a good sense of humor," Brown explains today.
“A joke like that is part of the game, isn’t it? It’s just a shame that people get the perception wrong sometimes. I said he had now beaten my ‘Senna,’ and then I read in the Brazilian press that I had compared Lando Norris to Ayrton Senna.”
“I was just talking about Senna, because Max has been world champion more often than Ayrton now. The distortions of the words are painful.”
There has been a lot of tension between Red Bull and McLaren in 2024, but Brown insists his relationship with Verstappen is actually good.
“Do you remember Max saying at 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’m responsible for McLaren.’
Verstappen’s quip was then followed by a storm of criticism from the American towards Red Bull, and particularly Christian Horner. But Brown says he doesn’t “never attacked Max.”
“Later in the season we also met at Monza. I shook his hand and said: ‘Now you know my face too!’. It’s always humor and Max takes it that way . But there is so much chaos on social media these days.”
“And so I didn’t take offense to what he said in Las Vegas. It stays in the same tone. I’m happy that our relationship is good. Max is a smart guy and I think he knows how to plays the game. It’s usually directed at Red Bull, but not at him.”
