Calling Verstappen arrogant: Zak Brown is just copying Toto Wolff

“And like you said, before I could only win it in the fastest car!" A year ago, right after the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Max Verstappen couldn't resist briefly interrupting an interview after spotting Zak Brown walking past. Verstappen pulled the American in front of Sky Sports’ camera and confronted him with his earlier statements.

The mutual respect is clear. Brown compares Verstappen to Ayrton Senna and says he thoroughly deserved the title. And that despite his boys, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, having the better car for much of the year.

The fact that the respect was still there between them already surprised fans at the time. Brown had been busy for weeks disparaging Verstappen and Red Bull, with remarks mainly targeting the reigning world champion’s aggressive driving style.

Although Verstappen has several world titles to his name by now, Brown’s approach is no different from Toto Wolff’s in 2021. The Mercedes team boss also chose to repeatedly highlight Verstappen’s aggressive style.

It’s not surprising that Brown opts for the same tactic. First of all, Verstappen as a racer hasn’t changed since becoming a champion, and so there are still people who think he races too hard. Like Wolff, Brown also has a British driver in his team, Norris, who supposedly stands for “fair racing.” At least, that’s what Brown claims—just as Wolff did.

Both are supported by the willing British media, who—with a British driver and a team based in the UK—take their compatriots' side. Think especially of Sky Sports, which was boycotted by Verstappen and Red Bull Racing at the end of 2022 for good reason.

In 2025, Brown has continued what he began the previous year, taking repeated jabs at both Red Bull Racing (especially Christian Horner) and Max Verstappen. For instance, in his new book, he stated that people at Red Bull Racing were afraid of Max and therefore did exactly what the Dutchman said.

On top of that came an interview with The Telegraph: “I don’t want to disparage Max…. He’s a four-time world champion. He can be a bruiser, too aggressive on track. His arrogance comes out.”

The CEO added: “If you look at some of the greatest champions in Formula One, they’ve had some arrogance about them. They get their elbows out.”

Only the extent to which Verstappen does the latter was not always correct, according to Brown. “Max has crossed the line on track at times. In Brazil against Lewis Hamilton over time. A handful of his passes on Lewis were overly aggressive.”

Although Zak Brown now claims these remarks were taken out of context, the statements are already combative enough on their own. While he says he used “bruiser,” which he sees as a fighter, he also talks about an arrogant Verstappen and the driver crossing the line.

It’s clear that Brown wants to maintain the narrative about Verstappen, but he’s far less successful at it than his role model Toto. Whereas Verstappen was often booed in 2021, with crowds backing Hamilton, few seem to rally behind McLaren and especially Norris.

Norris won the last two races in a row, but time and again, he was loudly booed by the fans in attendance. With the “papaya rules,” McLaren has, in that respect, shot itself in the foot, and the public’s respect seems a long way off for strong performances by the current championship leader.

The relationship between Brown and Verstappen isn’t the issue, by the way. During the Horner crisis at Red Bull, Verstappen already said that he maintains a good relationship with Brown, as he has for years with Wolff. The occasional jab in the media doesn’t seem to bother the four-time world champion much.

For the McLaren CEO, it’s important to keep that relationship as it is, and so it’s good that he reached out to Verstappen. It may seem unthinkable now, but who in 2021 thought Verstappen and Wolff would ever sit down together to discuss a possible collaboration?

Brown will want to keep that door open. Of course, he may soon have a world champion in his own team, but Verstappen is the best driver in F1. If he's available, you’ll always try to sign him, just as Brown reached out to Verstappen’s camp earlier this year to see what might be possible. The door was closed for now, but who knows—they might need each other in the future.

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