McLaren CEO Zak Brown made it clear that he does not intend to change the current driver lineup and reaffirmed his confidence in Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri as pillars of the team’s Formula 1 project, ruling out any chance of signing four-time champion Max Verstappen, who has a contract with Red Bull until 2028.
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“We are very happy with our driver lineup. It has remained this way for a few years, so I don’t see any opportunity at the moment here at McLaren. He is obviously an incredible talent, but we have two drivers who work extremely well together. Both won seven races last year. One is a world champion, the other was, I think, one third place away from being a world champion. So, we are very, very happy with the driver lineup we have,” Brown told the international portal GPBlog.
The statements reinforce a position that the executive had already adopted recently when commenting on rumors involving Piastri. At the time, Brown stated that McLaren seeks to create an environment where drivers, staff, and partners want to remain in the project, and not just rely on long-term contracts.
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The CEO also emphasized that rival teams will always show interest in outstanding professionals, but assured that McLaren is fully satisfied with its current duo. According to Brown, any team would like to have Norris and Piastri, and he would not trade his drivers for any other combination on the Formula 1 grid.
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