Brown hits back after Mekies says Lambiase to become McLaren team principal

During the five-week hiatus in racing after the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix were cancelled, it was announced that Max Verstappen's race engineer would be leaving the Austrian team and joining McLaren as its Chief Racing Officer by 2028.

As racing resumed at the Miami Grand Prix, the move was a major talking point, and further speculation arose when Mekies stated that 'GP' is "going to be a team principal at McLaren", prompting Brown to respond to the Red Bull boss’s remarks.

"He knows something I don't, apparently," Brown retorted while speaking to Sky Sports when posed with Mekies' earlier comments.

Friday's proceedings at the Miami Grand Prix did not follow expectations, as McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull all caught Mercedes on the back foot.

Charles Leclerc and Ferrari started the sprint weekend off in good form by controlling the only practice session before Lando Norris showed what McLaren is capable of in 2026 with a stunning Sprint Qualifying pole position.

Kimi Antonelli posted a fine lap to get himself up to P2, while Oscar Piastri, Leclerc and Max Verstappen rounded out the top five, ahead of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton in P6 and P7, respectively.