McLaren boss takes a fresh jibe at Max Verstappen: "His arrogance comes out"

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has taken a dig at reigning F1 world champion Max Verstappen, this time calling the Dutchman overly aggressive. The 53-year-old also claimed that Verstappen's 'arrogance comes out' on track during wheel-to-wheel battles.

McLaren and Zak Brown have been no strangers to criticizing Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team in the past. This has become even more prevalent since the driver has been locked in a title fight with the Papaya team and their drivers last season and this year.

Now, Brown has once again criticized Verstappen, questioning his aggressiveness in wheel-to-wheel combat. The American also believed that Verstappen had 'crossed the line' on track on multiple occasions previously.

In a recent interview with The Telegraph, Brown gave his assessment of Verstappen's driving style, saying:

"He can be a bruiser, too aggressive on track. His arrogance comes out. If you look at some of the greatest champions in Formula One, they have had some arrogance about them. They get their elbows out. "Max has crossed the line on track at times. In Brazil against Lewis Hamilton over time. A handful of his passes on Lewis were overly aggressive," he added.

Zak Brown's McLaren team has already secured the 2025 constructors' title in Singapore. With three rounds to go, all focus shifts to the drivers' championship, where Lando Norris is now the favorite to lift his maiden title. The 26-year-old is 24 points ahead of Oscar Piastri and 49 points ahead of Max Verstappen.

Piastri’s recent form has seen him fall from 34 points ahead of his teammate after the Dutch GP to almost a race win behind. If his slump continues, he is more likely to be caught by Verstappen for P2 than to challenge for the title.

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Zak Brown indirectly refers to Max Verstappen when asked about Lewis Hamilton's 8th title

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen at the Chinese GP - Source: Getty

During the aforementioned interview, Zak Brown took another indirect dig at Max Verstappen, claiming that Lewis Hamilton should already be an 8x world champion. The McLaren man was seemingly alluding to the events during the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP, where Verstappen claimed his first world title under controversial circumstances.

When asked if Hamilton could become a record-breaking 8x F1 champion, Brown replied, saying:

"He should already be."

The 2021 Abu Dhabi GP controversy arose when race director Michael Masi allowed only the cars between Hamilton and Verstappen to unlap themselves after a late race safety car. The race also resumed immediately, which broke from the usual procedure that requires all lapped cars to pass the safety car and for an extra lap to be completed before green flag conditions.

That created a one-lap shootout with Verstappen on fresh tires directly behind Hamilton and led to the former winning his first world championship.

Edited by Hitesh Nigam