McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown says Max Verstappen has shown he doesn’t need the fastest car to win the world championship.
After winning his fourth title in Las Vegas last week, Verstappen challenged Brown over a widely misquoted six-month-old comment claiming the McLaren boss said he could only win the championship if he had the fastest car.Speaking in an interview published this week, Brown said Verstappen’s success this year demonstrates F1 teams need both a competitive car and a competitive driver to win the championship.
“That’s what Max has shown: Great driver, great car,” he told Business of Sport. “I think when you see great car, not as great driver, Sergio [Perez] – who is a very good racing driver, he’s won grands prix, but clearly not at Max’s level – you can see the difference.
“He might be able to take a car that’s third quickest and win it. But you’ve got to have the car, then you also have to have the driver.”
Verstappen and McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have each failed to reach the final round of qualifying once this year. Perez has missed Q3 on nine occasions and was eliminated in Q1 for the sixth time last weekend.
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Brown said he prefers McLaren’s philosophy of having two highly competitive drivers than having one which is significantly stronger than the other.
“We’ve got two great drivers with great relationships: transparent, fair. And so I think we can manage through their desire to beat each other because they’re both team players. There’ll be moments, as there have been this year, of high stress. But that’s sport.”
Norris and Piastri’s strengths are “how fast they are and how few mistakes they make,” said Brown. “There’s a lot of fast drivers in Formula 1 but our guys keep it on the black stuff, as we say. “They race hard, they race clean.
“They’re great guys: They’re great with our sponsors, they’re great with our fans. So as I’ve said many times, I think we have the best driver line-up in Formula 1.”
The most significant stress point between McLaren’s drivers the team had to manage this year occurred in Hungary. Norris, their highest positioned in the championship, gained the lead of the Hungarian Grand Prix from Piastri due to the timing of McLaren’s final pit stops, but was ordered to let his team mate through. He eventually complied with the instruction.
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“You don’t take them by surprise,” he explained. “You develop a plan every day. So we’re at the race track on Thursday, we’re talking about what we’re going to do on Friday, Saturday. So good communication, good transparency.
“We do keep score when they help each other out so we try and bring a balance to that. But I think just being upfront and letting them know what our goals are and how their goals fit within our goals.”
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MichaelN
29th November 2024, 9:18
He had the third fastest car for many years. He won a mere handful of races, nothing more.
McLaren’s collective fawning over Verstappen is a poor way to distract from their own failed WDC campaign. Better to focus on bringing that WCC in.
Moi
29th November 2024, 9:25
When the gap in pace is 3 tenths or so, Max can make the difference. As we’ve seen so many times it is weird that even die-hard Max haters refuse to see it.
When the gap is 1+ seconds like in the Merc years, noone can bridge that.
But I’m sure you realize the above already.
Carl Parker (@mysticarl)
29th November 2024, 9:40
And if he’d said the opposite people would be critical about being a sore loser.
For many years the 3rd fastest car was miles off the pace – you can’t say that for this year with so many different teams and drivers winning.
notagrumpyfan
29th November 2024, 10:18
Exactly his strengths*: consistency and making the most out of less than ideal situations.
Even when the car is not the fastest go for the occasional opportunistic win, but make sure you maximise points in the other races.
Greats like Alonso and Hamilton had this as well during most of their careers.
* is this a rare complement towards Max by MichaelN? :P
MichaelN
29th November 2024, 12:47
Rare? I think I’ve said for years that Verstappen is the best of his generation, has that Schumacher like quality of maximising poor days, and is a deserving champion in all four of his title winning years. I don’t much care for his antics and even less for his team, but that’s just opinion and of no consequence.
And of course, the Red Bull of 2017 was much worse than the Mercedes. That’s obvious. But we don’t need to pretend that Monza was where Red Bull was all summer. They were still good, still podium worthy, in almost every race. The meaning of “third best” is highly dependent on the peculiarities of the season.
Dex
29th November 2024, 12:22
Agreed, the difference in pace between top 4 teams is now much smaller on average. But he did score so many podiums and a few wins in that situation, when no one else would; that has to be said. Verstappen more often than not outperformed the Ferraris, when they had faster cars, and was closer to Mercedes than he was supposed to be (using every possible chance to beat them when circumstances allowed). He was always lurking near the top, fighting, in a much, much slower car except on a handful of tracks where it was still slower, but less so; and there’s no way drivers like Russel, Leclerc, Norris and others would perform at that level (and we talk about much younger Verstappen). I don’t think Hamilton would either, but I’d be curious to see their roles reversed.
Armchair Expert (@armchairexpert)
29th November 2024, 12:35
Jenson Button: “I think he is the fastest driver that has ever driven an F1 car. I really do”
Fernando Alonso: “Max has so far shown that he has no weaknesses.”
But of course you think you know better than basically all experts… This year Max won the title in 3rd quickest car, which was often even less competitive (look at where Perez has finished races, the same Perez who beat Hulkenberg, Ocon and Stroll when they were team mates), so what else can he achieve that non-believers like you finally open their eyes?
I hate Schumacher, but why would I deny the fact he was the best driver on the grid between 1994 and 2002? He wasn’t the GOAT, because Schumacher made many mistakes, was slower than Hakkinen and enjoyed privileges like TC in Benetton or tailor-made Bridgestone tyres at Ferrari. Still, he was the best driver in that period and won multiple races in cars which he shouldn’t, like Monaco 1997 where he qualified P2, 1.5s quicker than his team mate Irvine in P15, in what at track was probably 7th-10th quickest car looking at Irvine’s performance compared to rival cars.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
29th November 2024, 18:08
There is absolutely no way ferrari was a better car than red bull, but you know a lot of stuff, so I can’t imagine you’re not aware that using perez as a yardstick is a bad idea and that you have to look at your best driver to judge car performance, you’re just using that as an argument because it’s good for you.
Verstappen won the title in the 2nd best car, as far a I see.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
29th November 2024, 18:10
Schumacher slower than hakkinen is also strange to say, generally hakkinen in their rivalry had better cars, that’s what made him look close at times.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
29th November 2024, 12:54
You don’t say things like that if you’re a team principal.
By the way, this is the reason that Lando lost the WDC – his own team principal didn’t believe in him and Lando knew it.
Lando has seemed very confused in his interviews and I have the feeling it comes from McLaren.
robbie1
29th November 2024, 13:27
@whinymakeupstuffbird
So instead of declining Red Bull he should have accepted their offer?
Oops, did I just proof you wrong regarding Red Bull not wanting a proper driver in the other seat?
Oh wait, it’s you: just McLaren apparently did so would Red Bull sabotage him, right?
Christopher Rehn (@chrischrill)
29th November 2024, 10:10
3rd fastest in 2024 is essentially as fast as the fastest really. The top 4 are so evenly matched that temperatures and wind can turn a P5 into a P1. And in those cases, someone like Max makes the difference. He has been brilliant in 2024.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
29th November 2024, 13:08
@chrischrill Max started the season with a super-dominant car that was from another category.
After Spain, they obviously had to change something in Max’s car but their car was still very competitive. Perez’s car paid off in spades and that was the point all along – they cannot penalize us if one car is incapable of points.
The other teams didn’t enjoy the same level of dominance as McLaren was better here, Ferrari better there, and Mercedes good at quite a few races.
Red Bull also had a lot of performance wiggle room that other teams didn’t have.
robbie1
29th November 2024, 13:24
@whinybirds
“After Spain, they obviously had to change something in Max’s car”
No they didn’t.
But feel free to proof me wrong.
And no, imagination is not proof.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
29th November 2024, 13:33
Sure, if dead wrong is right, you are 100% right.
robbie1
29th November 2024, 13:29
“The other teams didn’t enjoy the same level of dominance as McLaren was better here, Ferrari better there, and Mercedes good at quite a few races.”
You mean: they have rather average drivers incapable of extracting the max out of the car week in week out?
That would make you, for once, actually right.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
29th November 2024, 13:33
Are you on meds? I’d reply but you sound deranged to call every driver at McLaren, Mercedes, and Ferrari average.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
29th November 2024, 18:19
I’ll make michael’s point clearer: he means red bull was dominant with NO competition earlier on, while when mclaren was that strong it was only for a few races, then ferrari was better, there were others with merc better, so they split the points a little, while red bull didn’t have to do that initially.
I still think mclaren was the best car overall, if not by far.
Hotbottoms (@hotbottoms)
29th November 2024, 11:05
All this talk about who can or can’t win in the “third fastest car” is so silly. The fastest driver on the grid could probably win in the tenth fastest car—if the gap between all the cars is only 0.05 seconds. On the other hand, the second fastest driver would have a hard time winning if he doesn’t have a car faster than the fastest driver.
Even if we assume we can simply rank cars based on their speed (which isn’t true, as cars differ in many other ways, such as qualifying and race pace, tyre conservation, reliability, etc.), there are still other factors to consider, such as:
– What are the gaps between the cars?
– How does the ranking order change during the season? For instance, if one car is the fastest during the first half of the season, but the second half is very evenly matched between four cars, it might still be better to have the car that dominated the first half—even if it ends up as the fourth fastest for the rest of the season.
notagrumpyfan
29th November 2024, 11:28
– team strategy strength
– teammate supportiveness (ability and willingness)
– etc.
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
29th November 2024, 11:14
Max has gone OTT here, but he certainly could have won in the McLaren. Don’t think he could in the Ferrari.
It’s like Lewis in 2017/18. People forget that for two seasons, the Ferrari caught up to such a degree that I have no doubt that Lewis would have won those championships regardless of if he’s driven the Merc or the prancing horse.
Armchair Expert (@armchairexpert)
29th November 2024, 12:42
Why not in the Ferrari? When you sum up the points tally from the best results Ferrari drivers achieved every weekend you get 342 and that’s WITHOUT sprint races and fastest laps. Norris scored 340 points so far. If you think Max is better driver than Leclerc and Sainz, which their respective careers showed is the case, he would have easily won the title driving for Ferrari in 2024.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
29th November 2024, 18:25
It’s just that the ferrari was miles off the pace in several races, it only came good occasionally, it wasn’t as consistent as the mclaren.
Also, if we simulate verstappen at ferrari, we should simulate leclerc at the red bull number 1 seat, which could end up with leclerc beating both norris and verstappen in this alternate scenario, since I believe he had a better season than norris.
MichaelN
29th November 2024, 12:49
In 2018, maybe. But 2017 flattered Ferrari by Hamilton and Mercedes having a poor first half. The Ferrari was only ever really an equal at slow and twisty tracks. It’s why losing Singapore effectively ended their campaign.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
29th November 2024, 18:22
2018 yes, but 2017 the mercedes was significantly faster at several races and overall and they also had higher reliability; 2017 imo would be a hard task for the best of the best, schumacher, alonso, verstappen, clark, fangio, you name them.
Edvaldo
29th November 2024, 11:18
All of the top 4 cars was 3rd at some moment this season, so that’s a bit vague.
Red Bull enjoyed five or six races of unperturbed superiority at the beginning, that’s when he won the championship. Mclaren could’ve won many races but Ferrari, not really. Except for Baku, they won every race they could.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
29th November 2024, 18:29
I think you’re aware though that with a copy of verstappen at the mclaren, the points gap he accumulated would’ve been completely nullified in the races mclaren was better, until the mclaren-driving verstappen would’ve won the championship.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
29th November 2024, 12:48
Well, we know who Brown voted for in the US :-) If he believes that Perez is such a slow driver, I guess people will believe anything if you sell it hard enough. After all, Red Bull has been telling the story 20+ times a year.
PeteB (@peteb)
29th November 2024, 15:06
That’s a bizarre statement from Brown to be honest… Over the course of the year, McLaren was probably the 2nd fastest car so Brown is saying if Verstappen was driving for McLaren, they’d have won the title this year but unfortunately they’re stuck with Norris and Piastri…
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
29th November 2024, 16:19
I think it explains a lot – you never ever say that as a team principal as a joke especially when your driver and Leclerc are not agreeing. I’ve been getting the feeling that Norris is not getting the support he needs which of course affects his performance in the races. There’s definitely a destabilizing influence somewhere at McLaren and that’s always been their issue since Hamilton’s days.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
29th November 2024, 18:32
Yes, I wonder if this is a veiled attempt at saying he wants to replace norris with verstappen, odd to say as he also said they have the best driver pairing.