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McLaren boss Zak Brown on Thursday criticised rivals Red Bull for lacking respect for the sport’s rules following last weekend’s controversial collision between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.
Speaking at news conference at the British Grand Prix, the American chief executive said rivals Red Bull had not made three-time champion Verstappen aware “of what the limits are” in wheel-to-wheel racing.
Verstappen collided with Norris on lap 64 of last Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix. Both drivers suffered punctures that cost them chances of victory.
Verstappen was blamed, given a 10-second penalty by the stewards, and finished fifth, while Norris retired.
In a thinly-veiled swipe at Red Bull team boss Christian Horner, Brown added that he was “disappointed” that at “such a great team like Red Bull, the leadership almost encourages it because you listen on the radio (to) what was said.
“We all have a responsibility, on the pit wall, to tell our drivers the do’s and don’ts and what’s going on in the race.
“And so I think we need to have respect for regulations and we’ve seen there be lack of respect, whether it’s financial regulations or sporting, on-track issues with fathers and things of that nature that I just don’t think that’s how we need to go racing.”
Norris criticised his friend and rival on Sunday evening for ‘reckless’ driving, but backed down in his criticism on Thursday, saying their friendship remained strong and he enjoyed hard racing.
But Brown followed McLaren team principal Andrea Stella’s criticism of the stewarding and the FIA for failing to punish Verstappen.
“The battle was quite an epic battle between two of the best drivers in F1,” said Brown.
“Exciting for the fans, exciting for everyone – it was only a matter of time until we saw them go head-to-head.”
“I think we need – and I think this is something that the FIA agrees with – to invest more in stewarding to have greater consistency and enforcement of the regulations.
“It’s a very difficult job. It’s quite complex and so to do it on a part-time basis for the level of F1 is difficult.
“Max and Lando were just ‘duking it out’ as you’d expect them to do and until someone tells Max that’s against the regulations, he’s not going to know any different. There were missed opportunities for the stewards to make note.
“We need to guide our drivers on what’s right and wrong and I think had it been addressed earlier, maybe that incident wouldn’t have taken place.” – SuperSport.
Online Reporter