MCLAREN F1 CEO ZAK BROWN FIRES ACCUSATIONS AT RED BULL AFTER MAX VERSTAPPEN CLASH

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has torn into Red Bull, accusing the F1 champions of a "lack of respect" and claiming they have "encouraged" Max Verstappen to drive dirty.

The American launched his sensational attack after Verstappen caused contact with Lando Norris which ended both drivers' chances of winning last Sunday in Austria. The Briton has forgiven his rival, but his boss Brown was still seething as he faced reporters yesterday.

He fumed: "I'm also disappointed in such a great team like Red Bull that the leadership almost encourages it, because you listen on the radio what was said. We all have a responsibility on pit wall to tell our drivers the do's and don'ts of what's going on in the race, and so I think we need to have respect for regulations.

"We've seen there be lack of respect, whether it's financial regulations, or sporting, on track, issues with fathers and things of that nature. I just don't think that's how we need to go racing. We need to guide our drivers on what's right or wrong, and I think had it been addressed earlier, maybe that incident wouldn't have taken place."

Brown has been a vocal critic of Red Bull in recent years. He was one of the more outspoken bosses in 2022 when news broke of the team's cost cap breach and, last December, penned an open letter calling for a ban on the same organisation owning more than one F1 team, as Red Bull do.

His relationship with Christian Horner has been tense for some time and the American said he has "no interest in speaking with Christian" about his latest grievance. He also went on to call upon the FIA to introduce permanent stewards in a bid to improve consistency in decisions.

Brown added: "As we reflect on the weekend, and I think this is something that the FIA agrees with, we need to invest more in our stewarding to have greater consistency and enforcement of the regulations. I think having part-time stewards, it's a very difficult job. It's quite complex, and so to do it on a part-time basis for the level F1 is at, I think is difficult.

"Max and Lando were just duking it out, as you'd expect them to do, and until someone tells Max that that's against the regulations, he's not going to know any different. So I think there were missed opportunities for the stewards to make note."

But he did admit the 10-second penalty Verstappen received was fair for this incident, adding: "I think what they gave [was appropriate]. You're supposed to give a driver a car's width and he didn't. It was unfortunate. It could have just been a small rub and carried on.

"But I thought that was the right penalty because that's what the rulebook says. Again, I think Max is an awesome racing driver, fighting for the lead. It's our responsibility as teams to let the drivers know what the limits are. If you don't, I wouldn't expect Max to do anything differently."

2024-07-05T15:53:50Z dg43tfdfdgfd