McLaren CEO Zak Brown has ramped up his war of words with Red Bull boss Christian Horner by claiming his team is "scared" of Max Verstappen.
Brown feels the three-time F1 champion is beyond reproach at Red Bull such is his power, underlined by what unfolded during the recent Austrian Grand Prix when Verstappen and Lando Norris were involved in a collision that wrecked their races.
Verstappen was handed a 10-second time penalty by the stewards for causing the incident, yet Horner pointed the finger of blame directly at Norris over the team radio, commenting: “He didn’t behave correctly there Max, desperately unlucky.”
Brown was left aghast by the remark. Speaking to The Independent, he said: “It seems to be that Red Bull are scared of Max.
“We’re very honest with our drivers. If nobody tells him [Verstappen] 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.”
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There is no love lost between Brown and Horner, who have exchanged verbal punches in the past, not least when Red Bull breached the cost cap two years ago.
Brown called out Red Bull at the time, accusing the team of "cheating". Horner said he was "appalled" at the American's damning accusation.
Brown has made clear why he and Horner do not see eye to eye. “I only respond to things when I think they’re not right,” he said.
“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.”
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