McLaren CEO Zak Brown slams Red Bull for lack of respect

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has openly criticised his rival Red Bull Racing, accusing it of a broad disregard for the sport’s rules. Brown’s scathing comments come in the wake of several controversial issues, including an on-track clash between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen.

Brown’s criticism was sparked by an incident at last weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix in which Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Lando Norris collided, ending the latter’s race. But Brown’s concerns went beyond that one incident. He also called out the Austrian team for previously breaching F1’s cost cap in 2021 and made serious allegations about the conduct of Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, citing allegations of inappropriate conduct.

Speaking to media during the team’s press conference ahead of the British Grand Prix, Brown said, as reported by BBC Sport:

“We have to respect the rules and we’ve seen the lack of them, whether it’s financial rules or, you know, sporting rules, issues with fathers on the track and things like that.

“And I just don’t think that’s how we should be racing and we need to advise our drivers what’s right and what’s wrong.”

Adding to the complexity of adhering to F1 regulations is the role of the “part-time marshals” who, as Brown pointed out, face a difficult task. He continued:

“Being a part-time steward is a very difficult, quite complex job, so being a part-time steward in Formula 1 is difficult because Max and Lando were just fighting, as you would expect them to.

“Until someone tells Max, ‘Hey, this is against the rules,’ he won’t know otherwise.

“So I think the stewards missed an opportunity to spot that.

“It’s also disappointing that in a great team like Red Bull the management almost encourages it because you listen to the radio and what’s being said. We all have a responsibility on the pit wall to tell our drivers what’s allowed and what’s not allowed and what’s happening in the race.”

The news comes after McLaren team principal Andrea Stella commented on the matter in an interview with Sky Sports F1 immediately after the Austrian Grand Prix:

“I understand that the entire population of the world would know who was responsible, except for a certain group of people.

“But the problem is that if you don’t deal with these things honestly, they come back. They came back today because they weren’t dealt with properly in the past when there was an argument with Lewis that should have been dealt with more severely.

“You are now learning to race in a certain way that we can consider fair and just.”

The dialogue surrounding these incidents and accusations is not limited to McLaren. Toto Wolff, the principal of the Mercedes F1 team, has expressed similar views on the need for regulation and personal responsibility of drivers. He commented, as quoted in the same BBC Sport report:

“The drivers will know best between themselves. Lando and Max, they get on very well. They won’t criticize each other in the media, but they will discuss it and all the good people will have a judgment about it and we will see what it means. I think that is number one.

“And number two is a set of regulations. And those regulations set boundaries for drivers as to what is allowed and what is not.

“I tend to agree with Zac, it’s always funny to see one-dimensional comments from team principals where you think, let’s at least be a little objective.”