Zak Brown addresses Verstappen ‘arrogance’ and ‘overly aggressive’ moves on Hamilton

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown claimed that Max Verstappen can get “too aggressive” on the race track as his “arrogance” comes out.

Brown stressed that he did not want to “disparage” the four-time world champion, as “some of the greatest champions” have also displayed “some arrogance”, but Brown does believe that Verstappen has “crossed the line” on track sometimes, with Lewis Hamilton mentioned as a victim.

Brown claims Max Verstappen at times ‘crossed the line’

Verstappen has established his legacy as one of the greatest drivers that Formula 1 has ever seen. He has become known as a driver with insane speed, and one who rarely makes it comfortable for a rival in wheel-to-wheel combat.

Verstappen’s no-nonsense, uncompromising racing style which shows itself at times, does attract some critics. Others believe that it is the hallmark of a true great.

Brown – whose McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are battling Verstappen over the F1 2025 title – believes Verstappen can sometimes take things too far.

“I don’t want to disparage Max…. He’s a four-time world champion,” Brown began when speaking with the Telegraph.

“He can be a bruiser, too aggressive on track. His arrogance comes out.

“If you look at some of the greatest champions in Formula 1, they’ve had some arrogance about them. They get their elbows out.

“Max has crossed the line on track at times.”

Asked to give an example, Brown responded: “In Brazil against Lewis Hamilton over time. A handful of his passes on Lewis were overly aggressive.”

Perhaps most memorable was their 2021 battle at Interlagos, as the then title combatants went at it on track. That included both drivers taking to the run-off as Hamilton attempted a move at Turn 4. The duo collided at the venue the following year.

Verstappen’s Brazil 2021 scrap with Hamilton was previously picked up on by Adrian Newey, the F1 design guru who was with Verstappen at Red Bull at the time.

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Asked during the High Performance Podcast whether Verstappen ever shows signs of cracking, Newey replied: “I think a little bit perhaps in his championship win in ’21.

“Where the intensity, particularly after Silverstone, on track, between Lewis and Max became so intense… I think Max had very strong feelings on that Silverstone accident.

“And of course, he’d been clear championship leader going into Silverstone, then him out of the race, and then more or less out of the race in Hungary, when he got hit by Valtteri [Bottas], not intentional at all, but still got hit and pretty much hardly scored any points, so gone from easy championship leaders to now feeling a bit more pressure.

“And Mercedes managed to find quite a lot more pace out of their car towards the end of the season.

“So it’s always easier for the hunter than the hunted. And Max was starting, I think, to just feel a little bit of pressure from the hunted. And hence that, he was, in reality, probably lucky not to get a penalty for his driving in Brazil.

“Saudi, where they had a bit of a dingdong, that was a little bit more… I think that was not clear, but Max was probably a bit out of order in Brazil in truth, so I think he was feeling it a bit.”

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