Sep.26 (GMM) Zak Brown says the door remains “wide open” for Max Verstappen to join McLaren in the future, after revealing how impressed he was by their conversations last summer.
Verstappen has since extended his Red Bull contract through 2030, but has already admitted that talks with McLaren were serious before he decided to stay.
Brown told De Telegraaf that his meetings with the four-time world champion were initially about getting to know him better.
“I spoke to Max a few times last summer,” said the McLaren CEO.
“Simply because I wanted to get to know him better. If I could describe him in one word right now, it would be one that hadn’t occurred to me before those conversations. Charming.”
Brown said Verstappen’s wider interest in motorsport beyond F1 also stood out.
“His focus and the way he looks at motorsport from a driver’s perspective I found very impressive,” said the American.
“You can see it in how involved Max is with the GT3 program and how technically proficient he is. Fernando had that too.”
Brown stressed, however, that he remains happy with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
” I am really happy and satisfied with my current lineup,” he said.
“The conversations were more exploratory, basically to get to know each other better. Because you never know what the future holds.”
But he made no attempt to hide how much his opinion of Verstappen changed.
“I was much more impressed by him as an individual than I had expected. I feel like: I can really race with this guy. Because I hate racing against him,” he laughed.
And despite Verstappen’s long Red Bull deal, Brown is keeping the possibility alive.
“The door is still wide open for Max,” he said. “For 2028, 2029, or whatever year.”
“I enjoyed getting to know him better and would love to work with him someday.”