- Zak Brown rules out signing Max Verstappen, but leaves one door open.
- Red Bull struggle and looming contract clause put Verstappen’s future in doubt.
- Familiar face heading to McLaren may be the thing that changes everything.
McLaren Racing chief executive Zak Brown says he has no plans to sign Max Verstappen, even as the four-time world champion’s future at Red Bull grows increasingly uncertain.
Brown made his position clear to Sky Sports during the Miami Grand Prix weekend. He cited the strength of his current driver pairing as the reason he is not in the market for a change.
“I couldn’t be happier with our driver lineup,” Brown said. “Lando and Oscar, not only are two awesome guys on the track, off the track, but as teammates.”
“Which is so much, I think, what’s made McLaren successful here is the chemistry that we have in the garage, in the factory, with our pit wall, all throughout the racing team. So, I couldn’t be happier with what we have and zero intention in changing it.”
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri delivered McLaren back-to-back constructors’ championships under team principal Andrea Stella. Norris also secured a first drivers’ title for the team since Lewis Hamilton in 2008.
The Verstappen question that won’t go away
Brown was careful, though, not to close every door.
When asked directly whether Verstappen would interest him if a seat opened up, he acknowledged the Dutchman’s talent while placing him among a broader group of elite drivers.
“Well, he’s an awesome racing driver, so if a gap opened up, that’s a different conversation, of course,” Brown said.
“When you see the talent that he has, yeah. And if you were looking for a racing driver, I think there’s a lot of great racing drivers out there. Charles Leclerc’s doing an amazing job. You know, it’s great to see Lewis back on form. Kimi’s doing a great job. George is a great driver.”
Brown also drew attention to Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli, whose performances in the first three rounds of the 2026 season have been striking.
Mercedes leads the constructors’ standings with 135 points, well clear of Ferrari on 90, with McLaren third on 46.
“But look at what Kimi’s doing here,” Brown said. “I almost kind of feel like he’s the championship favourite sitting here at the moment.”
Red Bull’s troubles fuel speculation
The reason Brown keeps fielding questions about Verstappen is not hard to see.
Red Bull have made a poor start to the new regulatory era. They sit in sixth in the constructors’ standings with just 16 points from the first three races, behind both Haas and Alpine.
Verstappen has publicly complained about the RB22’s balance, citing both understeer and oversteer at different stages of the early rounds.
The team have also suffered two reliability failures with their new Red Bull Ford Powertrains engine.
At the Japanese Grand Prix, Verstappen went further, saying he was considering leaving the sport entirely at the end of the season.
His Red Bull contract runs until 2028, but it is understood to include performance-related exit clauses. One threshold, linked to 2027, is believed to require a top-two finish in the standings by the summer break.
The Lambiase factor
Another detail is aiding the speculation about a possible Verstappen-McLaren connection.
Gianpiero Lambiase, Verstappen’s race engineer since 2016, will join McLaren as chief racing officer no later than 2028.
Dutch journalist Erik van Haren has suggested the move is part of a deliberate strategy by Brown.
According to Haren, the McLaren CEO wants to stay close to Verstappen’s situation and give the four-time champion an additional reason to consider Woking, should he leave Red Bull.
Verstappen acknowledged what losing Lambiase would mean.
“The general understanding that we have with each other and the chemistry works really well,” he said. “That’s very rare, I think, in racing. You don’t see that often, a driver and engineer that gel that well together.”
Lambiase will join a growing cluster of former Red Bull staff at McLaren. Rob Marshall arrived as technical director in 2024, and Will Courtenay took up the role of sporting director at the start of 2026.
A diplomatic balancing act
Brown’s comments in Miami reflect a position he has chosen with some care.
He cannot be seen to unsettle Norris or Piastri by inviting comparisons with Verstappen. But flatly ruling out one of the most gifted drivers in the sport’s history would be equally difficult to defend.
By placing Verstappen alongside Leclerc, Antonelli and others, Brown avoided singling him out while still acknowledging his quality. The message was that McLaren is not looking, but it is watching.
For now, the team at Woking is built around two drivers who trust each other and, by Brown’s account, the wider team around them.
Whether that changes depends on a set of conditions Brown himself has already sketched out: a vacancy, a conversation, and a season in Formula 1 that, as he noted, can shift very quickly.
