Red Bull hits back at McLaren's Brown for 'stoking unrest'

Red Bull adviser Dr Helmut Marko has issued a staunch denouncement of McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown's recent comments about him.

The 81-year-old has accused the American of "deliberately" causing problems after he feels Brown misinterpreted remarks he made about McLaren driver Lando Norris.

The latest comments are merely the most recent in what has developed into a war of words between the two teams over the course of the 2024 F1 season.

It is a growing dispute that has in no small part been aided by McLaren's sudden and unexpected ascent to the top of the F1 constructors' standings. The Woking-based team is on course to clinch a first constructors' championship since 1998.

Ahead of the United States Grand Prix, Marko stated his reasons for believing Max Verstappen would persevere to win his fourth-consecutive F1 drivers' title. In doing so, the Austrian highlighted what he sees as a mental difference between the Dutchman and Norris.

"Because mentally and as a driver, [Verstappen] is the best," he explained. "Norris is weak in the beginning [of a race] and he is not the strongest mentally."

This caught the ire of Brown, who delivered a robust response: "I read Helmut's comments, which I thought were disappointing but not surprising," the 52-year-old told media including RacingNews365.

"Lando has been an ambassador for mental health... It's a serious issue we've tried to talk about, to bring to the forefront, to make it okay to talk about, so to maybe kind of choose, poking at that situation, is pretty inappropriate and sets us back 10, 20 years."

Now, Marko, evidently antagonised, has sought to clarify the situation - but not without himself levying his own provocative sentiments at Brown, who he feels has been disingenuous in his interpretation of his original comments about the 24-year-old driver.

"There was a fuss again just because I said Norris is a bad starter. I never talked about mental health, only that Max is mentally stronger," Marko said to Austrian newspaper Oe24.

"You can't twist the statements. You deliberately cause problems. But we know Zak Brown's games. He deliberately stokes unrest wherever he can."