Zak Brown and Max Verstappen, clarification after the interview: “Calling him arrogant was meant as a compliment”
Playful interviews
In recent days, McLaren CEO Zak Brown spoke with The Telegraph to promote his book “Seven tenths of a second.” His comments quickly spread worldwide because, when discussing Max Verstappen, he described him as “a little too aggressive on track” and “arrogant,” adding that he considered all the greatest Formula 1 champions had been like that and were used to “using their elbows.”
The reparative message
After the interview was published, the portion about Max Verstappen was widely shared on social media, prompting Zak Brown to contact the Red Bull champion via message to immediately clarify any possible misunderstanding and explain what he truly meant.
Zak Brown also clarified his remarks during the Las Vegas weekend to journalists, to dispel any confusion: “I called him arrogant, a fighter. But it’s a compliment. I called Ayrton Senna that as well, my favorite driver of all time. Those statements were taken out of a broader context,” the Californian manager explained.
With McLaren and Red Bull locked in an intense fight for the Drivers championships, the last thing either camp needs is unnecessary bad blood. Thanks to Brown’s swift clarification (and a bit of Senna-flavoured praise), the relationship between the two teams looks to have emerged from the episode completely unscathed.
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