Zak Brown calls out Red Bull for ‘inappropriate’ behaviour over Verstappen radio

Zak Brown of McLaren giving a press conference ahead of the British GP

McLaren CEO Zak Brown didn’t mince words when he stated that Red Bull was “inappropriate” in how it handled Max Verstappen on track during his clash with Lando Norris at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Brown was not impressed by the fact that Red Bull declined to offer any “guidance” to Max Verstappen regarding his battle with Norris — and that Christian Horner seemed to place the blame on the McLaren driver.

Brown: Red Bull’s radio behavior was “inappropriate”

In a conversation with Sky Sports F1 between FP1 and FP2 during the British Grand Prix weekend, Zak Brown was asked if he agreed with Christian Horner telling Max Verstappen via radio after the Austrian Grand Prix that Lando Norris didn’t behave correctly.

Brown refuted the claim instantly.

“I thought that was very incorrect,” he said.

“I think it’s inappropriate to be feeding your driver information that I think the rest of the world saw differently, including the stewards.

“I think [Verstappen’s 10-second penalty] was the right decision. You have to leave a driver a full car width, and [Verstappen] didn’t, and that’s disappointing because that’s not very sporting.

“But that’s kind of what we’ve come to expect out of his behaviors.”

If you have somehow forgotten, a slow pit stop for Verstappen in the final stages of the Austrian Grand Prix saw Lando Norris able to close the seven-second gap between the two drivers and mount a challenge for the lead of the race.

Norris attempted several different passes and was rebuffed each time.

On Lap 63, Norris ran off the track attempting to overtake Verstappen; Norris secured the lead momentarily before relinquishing the position to Verstappen.

The move resulted in a five-second penalty for Norris as that was a fourth track limits offence of the race — something that Red Bull did not tell Verstappen.

On Lap 64, Verstappen and Norris made contact. Both suffered tire punctures and had to limp back to the pits. Norris retired. Verstappen changed tires and returned to the track to finish fifth.

More on McLaren’s post-Austria reaction

 McLaren call for Max Verstappen ‘limits’ clampdown and ‘full-time’ FIA stewards

 Zak Brown makes feelings on Christian Horner very clear as Red Bull rivalry heats up

Brown was particularly unimpressed with the fact that Red Bull didn’t offer any guidance to Verstappen — either to inform him to race differently, or regarding Norris’ penalty.

“You would have preferred Red Bull to say look, Max, you can’t do that, or given him some guidance?” Brown was asked by Ted Kravitz.

“Yeah, that’s what we would do.

“We would 100% if we feel our drivers need to do something to perform differently or [be] cautious on track limits, or whatever the case may be.

“We definitely feed our drivers [messages] to be careful. And they did it in fact.

“Lando had a five-second penalty — which is a whole different story, because I don’t think when you make a move and you go off and give the position back, you should get a track limit for that.

“But wasn’t even, I think, notified of the five-second penalty.

“And had he done, maybe Max would have said, ‘Well, let me just tuck in behind him and win this thing two second behind.’

“But they didn’t inform him, and I don’t know why they wouldn’t give him that information, because Max is a very intelligent driver, and he maybe would have decided there was a different way to race for the win.

“But they chose not to give him that information.”

Read next: Lando Norris names biggest British GP threat — and it’s not Red Bull