Christian Horner brutally slammed as Red Bull left “scared of Max Verstappen”
McLaren Racing chief executive Zak Brown has hit out at Red Bull and Christian Horner, claiming they are “scared” of three-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen.
McLaren chief Zak Brown has claimed Red Bull are “scared” of Max Verstappen following his clash with Lando Norris at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Verstappen made contact with Norris’ car during the race and the damage sustained ended both drivers’ chances of winning. Norris was ultimately forced to retire as a result of the damage to his car, while Verstappen finished fifth.
Brown was furious with the incident and comments made by Red Bull’s team principal Christian Horner, who told Verstappen over the radio that he was “desperately unlucky” to have been given a time penalty and that Norris “didn’t behave correctly”.
Speaking after the clash, Brown accused Red Bull of “encouraging” Verstappen to drive dirty and the American has now doubled down on those comments. “It seems to be that Red Bull are scared of Max,” Brown said in an interview with the Independent.
“We’re very honest with our drivers. If nobody tells him that what he did wasn’t within the regulations, why should he think otherwise? But to have Christian come on the radio and actually squarely point the problem at Lando – who are you kidding?
“Everyone has seen it. The regulations are very clear – you’ve got to leave a car’s width. He didn’t. Why did he have to say anything? It just felt wholly inappropriate. I only respond to things when I think they’re not right.
“I speak up on issues. It just seems I have more issues with him [Christian], more than others, because he says and does stuff I think is wrong. It’s less about getting under each other’s skin and fighting because we were not competing with them during the cost-cap [episode].
“I just felt the integrity of the cost cap was critical for the success of Formula 1 and if it wasn’t taken seriously, the sport would be damaged forever. I was trying to protect the integrity of the sport and they didn’t take it seriously. That’s why I spoke up.”
Verstappen currently sits top of the drivers’ standings with 255 points as he attempts to win his fourth consecutive world title, while Norris is 84 points behind him in second place with 12 races left this season.
