Zak Brown more wary of Mercedes than Verstappen in United States

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19:54, 19 Oct 2024

Tim Kraaij is Editor-in-Chief of GPblog.com and a Formula 1 analyst. With permanent FIA accreditation and direct access to the paddock, he delivers in-depth, data-driven analysis and insight into key developments within the sport.

Zak Brown sees Mercedes as the big favourite to win the sprint race. However, the McLaren CEO does not want to call it a dominant car, as anyone can win according to the American.

"It's been a bit of a challenging Friday for us," Zak Brown told Sky Sports ahead of the sprint race in Austin. "Oscar [Piastri] lost his time. Lando [Norris], I didn't think, optimised his lap. I think Mercedes are the fastest actually."

McLaren not using updates

Zak Brown saw 'his' drivers get no further than P4 and P16. Oscar Piastri already dropped out in SQ1. Norris wasn't able to challenge Verstappen's best time.

"We only had the one hour and then obviously the qualifying. The upgrades now, we're in the increments, the milliseconds, not even the tenths, so the data's been good, but we weren't expecting some giant leap forward," Brown concluded.

Pos.	Driver	Team	Points
1	Kimi Antonelli Kimi Antonelli	MercedesMER	292
2	George Russell George Russell	MercedesMER	211
3	Lewis Hamilton Lewis Hamilton	FerrariFER	191
4	Lando Norris Lando Norris	McLarenMCL	186
5	Charles Leclerc Charles Leclerc	FerrariFER	167
6	Max Verstappen Max Verstappen	Red Bull RacingRBR	145
7	Oscar Piastri Oscar Piastri	McLarenMCL	120
8	Isack Hadjar Isack Hadjar	Red Bull RacingRBR	71
9	Liam Lawson Liam Lawson	Racing BullsRCB	59
10	Pierre Gasly Pierre Gasly	AlpineALP	41
11	Arvid Lindblad Arvid Lindblad	Racing BullsRCB	31
12	Franco Colapinto Franco Colapinto	AlpineALP	27
13	Oliver Bearman Oliver Bearman	HaasHAA	18
14	Gabriel Bortoleto Gabriel Bortoleto	AudiAUD	10
15	Nico Hulkenberg Nico Hulkenberg	AudiAUD	7
16	Carlos Sainz Carlos Sainz	WilliamsWIL	6
17	Alexander Albon Alexander Albon	WilliamsWIL	5
18	Esteban Ocon Esteban Ocon	HaasHAA	3
19	Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso	Aston MartinAST	3
20	Yuki Tsunoda Yuki Tsunoda	Racing BullsRCB	1
21	Lance Stroll Lance Stroll	Aston MartinAST	0
22	Valtteri Bottas Valtteri Bottas	CadillacCAD	0
23	Sergio Perez Sergio Perez	CadillacCAD	0

Zak Brown more wary of Mercedes than Verstappen in United States

McLaren not using updates

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