‘Who is Zak Brown?’ – Max Verstappen smiles at post-Austria McLaren swipes

Max Verstappen jokingly asked “who is Zak Brown?”, when asked about the McLaren Racing CEO’s comments about his collision with Lando Norris last weekend.

Brown has been forthright in his opinions of both the leadership of Red Bull and Verstappen’s driving, and while he’s complimentary of his talent, he wants full-time stewards in Formula 1 for “greater consistency”.

Max Verstappen jokes ‘who is Zak Brown?’ after latest McLaren comments

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Brown doubled down in his belief that Verstappen was to blame for last weekend’s incident, though Norris believed Verstappen did not need to apologise for what took place between the two drivers.

He said to media including PlanetF1.com on Friday: “You’re supposed to give a driver a car’s width and he didn’t.

“It’s unfortunate – it could have just been a small rub and they both carried on – but I thought that was the right penalty, because that’s what the rule book says.

“But again, I think Max is an awesome racing driver, fighting for the lead and it’s our responsibility as teams to let the drivers know what the limits are.

“And if you don’t, I wouldn’t expect Max to do anything differently.”

Speaking to Dutch media after talking to the English-speaking media after qualifying at Silverstone, the three-time World Champion was further addressing the comments McLaren were making in the aftermath of the Austrian Grand Prix weekend.

And asked about Brown’s comments, he jokingly replied with a laugh: “Who is Zak Brown?”, before the session ended.

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👉 Winners and losers from the 2024 British Grand Prix qualifying

As for the weekend ahead, Verstappen ran wide at Copse in a wet/dry Q1 and collected floor damage as he ran through the gravel at high speed.

Despite that damage, he qualified fourth on the grid for the British Grand Prix, behind the all-British trio of George Russell, Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris.

He confirmed he will receive a new floor ahead of the race, and that he will look to make the most of what is available to him.

“I’ll do my best, of course, tomorrow to have a good fight again,” Verstappen said to media including PlanetF1.com after qualifying.

“Today was not our day, with Q1 being a bit unlucky, but hopefully tomorrow, we have a good battle between all the teams, that would be great.

“Naturally, I know that the top three, all of them, they want to win at home. But hopefully, I can make it a bit more difficult.”

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