For Zak Brown, Max Verstappen has occasionally pushed the limits of aggression on track, even while acknowledging that all Formula 1 champions tend to “use their elbows” when racing at the highest level.
Most likely, Max Verstappen’s dominance in Formula 1 has ended in 2025, or at least been interrupted. The reigning world champion trails Lando Norris by 49 points with just three race weekends remaining. With only 83 points still available, Max Verstappen’s championship hopes against McLaren are now almost entirely mathematical. Nonetheless, it is fair to say that 2025 has been one of the strongest seasons of Verstappen’s career, with an almost flawless car capable of extracting maximum performance from the RB21 weekend after weekend.
Under the same circumstances, any other driver would probably have already been eliminated from the championship several races ago. McLaren is well aware of this, and Max Verstappen will remain a looming threat for as long as there is even a mathematical chance of the title. McLaren CEO Zak Brown did not hold back in his comments, pointing out that the four-time world champion can sometimes be overly aggressive on track.
“Max can be a bit too aggressive on track, and that’s where his arrogance shows,” Brown told the Telegraph. “However, all the greatest F1 champions are in some way arrogant and do use their elbows. Max has occasionally gone beyond the limit on track, for example at Interlagos against Lewis Hamilton in 2021. Some of his overtakes on Lewis were excessively aggressive.”
When asked about Lewis Hamilton’s chances of claiming a Formula 1 title with Ferrari, which would be his eighth world championship and becoming the most decorated driver in the history of the sport, the American sent another clear message: “Lewis should already be an eight-time world champion,” an obvious reference to the events in Abu Dhabi and the controversial decision made by then-race director Michael Masi.
