Verstappen can forget about McLaren move: 'Not going to happen'

Ahead of the British GP, according to Sky Sports News, Verstappen's team has held a meeting with McLaren, with the British channel understanding that the discussions were initiated by the Dutchman's representatives.

At the British Grand Prix, the CEO of McLaren was asked about Verstappen joining his team. Brown was clear in his answer. He said at the FIA team representatives' press conference: "They’re rumors. I usually don't talk about my dinners, but last time I had dinner with Nigel Mansell, which was really cool. He's won this race a bunch.

The American stressed that he is pleased with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. "I’m very happy with my two racing drivers, Lando and Oscar. I think anytime a name like Max is thrown around, everyone gets pretty excited. Four-time world champion, but very happy with our driver line-up."

The American CEO was then asked to confirm that if McLaren moves for Verstappen, it is not going to happen anytime soon. "Correct," Brown replied. "[The talks] didn't go anywhere. I've got my two drivers, so there's nothing to report."

He was also asked what McLaren could offer Verstappen that Red Bull could not. Brown added: "I haven't really thought about that because I've got two drivers in the seat. So what I couldn't offer him was a seat in my race car. But I think McLaren's an awesome team, so is Red Bull, so is Alpine, and so is Ferrari, so I mean all the Formula 1 teams are amazing. I think we've got a unique environment, as do all race teams, but we've got a great race team that's had a lot of success, and I think it's a good place to work, whether you're a racing driver, a team principal, or a mechanic, or whatever you may be at Team McLaren."

Answering GPblog's question about teaming up with Verstappen in the Hypercar class of the FIA World Endurance Championship at the Woking-based team, Fernando Alonso laughed on Thursday afternoon: "I don't know if Zak has the budget. I will speak with him."

He added: "No, it's unlikely. I think, especially if I stay with the team, having the Valkyrie at Le Mans, if I do it... There is a very high chance that I do it with the Valkyrie first."

The Dutchman was noted for a yellow flag infringement during the only free practice session of the weekend at Silverstone. However, the stewards quickly dismissed the incident, and declared that no further investigation was necessary.

Ahead of Sprint Qualifying, Verstappen set the sixth quickest time on the soft tyres at Silverstone. The Dutchman finished around a second behind Lewis Hamilton. His first attempt on the soft tyres was far from ideal, then on his second run, with the chequered flag already waving, he was quicker in both Sectors 1 and 2 but failed to improve in the final sector, which meant he remained sixth.