McLaren boss Zak Brown opens up on Max Verstappen signing: 'The phone rings often'

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has had to weather the storm regarding his F1 driver lineup as rumours persist over Max Verstappen's interest in joining the team.

This weekend will see McLaren and reigning champion Lando Norris return to Silverstone for their home race at the British Grand Prix, where the Brit claimed a stunning victory last year.

Norris is a popular figure among British F1 fans and has even increased his 'Landostand' capacity for this year's English race, but much of the conversation ahead of the event is focused around Verstappen.

The four-time champion sits seventh in the drivers' standings after last weekend's British GP and despite securing a season best of P2 in Austria, he is reportedly weighing up whether to stay loyal to Red Bull or activate an early exit clause.

The Dutchman's manager Raymond Vermeulen confirmed Verstappen does have a clause in his contract, and although the exact details aren't publicly known, it is thought that the 28-year-old can activate an early exit should he be sat outside the top two in the championship by the time the summer break rolls around next month.

Recent rumours have suggested Verstappen's camp contacted McLaren to see if there is any space for the No.1 driver at Woking, but Vermeulen was quick to discredit that rumour, telling German outlet Bild: "There’s no truth in that. There have been no negotiations."

McLaren CEO Brown has unsurprisingly faced lots of questions on the matter at last weekend's Austrian GP and during media appearances in the UK this week where he failed to rule out a future signing.

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McLaren ‘not in the market’ for new driver, but Brown is keeping an eye on Verstappen

Ahead of the race weekend in Silverstone, Brown appeared on Radio X, where host Chris Moyles read out a message from a listener that said: "Zak, it's your moral duty to give us lifelong McLaren fans any insights into the Verstappen gossip. Please, please, I must know."

Brown was then forced to confront the rumours once again, saying: "We have two awesome racing drivers in Lando and Oscar, and you're going to see them in our race cars for a long, long time."

As McLaren Racing CEO, Brown was busy doing the rounds with British media ahead of the ninth round of the championship and also paid a visit to Heart.

During an appearance on Heart Breakfast with Jamie and Amanda, Brown delved into the topic of Verstappen's interest in McLaren even further, saying: "Yeah, we’re a hot team. You know, it's a great, great place to be.

"We've got two awesome drivers in Lando and Oscar, so no intention of seeing any different lineup.

"But, you know, flattering, and the phone rings often, and he's a massive talent, so we'll see what the future holds, what he ends up doing. But I know what our plan is – it’s keep going with what we got."

When asked to confirm whether he was dismissing the rumours or not, Brown clarified: "Well, I think you know, anytime you're in sport, you’ve got to kind of know what the markets doing, but we're not in the market.

"So, we need to pay attention, because you never know. But Lando and Oscar won 14 for us last year, and I'm looking forward to the next 14."

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Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

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