For the past two seasons, Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen has been the man everybody has been chasing.
After an incredible battle to win the World Championship in 2021, Red Bull have kicked on under the new regulations and his arch-foe Lewis Hamilton has been left behind in a struggling Mercedes.
However, the gap is beginning to close and soon we may see whether or not Max Verstappen really is the fastest driver on the grid.
Already this season he’s missed out on standing on the top step of the podium twice, although on one of those occasions, his car’s reliability was the issue.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown has now suggested to Motorsport.com that he thinks his driver Lando Norris could beat Verstappen in a straight fight.
It’s a very bullish statement made off the back of the £305,000-a-week driver winning his first-ever Grand Prix.
All eyes will be on Imola, with fans waiting to see whether McLaren’s latest upgrade package is good enough to match Red Bull at every race.
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McLaren CEO Zak Brown says Lando Norris can beat Max Verstappen in a straight fight
While Max Verstappen was delighted that his close friend achieved his maiden F1 victory in Miami, he won’t want to see a repeat of that feat again this season.
He was on slightly older tyres and reportedly had damage to his car when the safety car came out, but still had to watch as the McLaren driver pulled away in the second half of the race.
McLaren have had a very up-and-down couple of years, having not won a Grand Prix since 2021 before Norris’s victory and both Verstappen and Hamilton took each other out during that race in Monza.
But once they delivered their first major upgrade in Austria last year, they’ve suddenly been one of Red Bull’s closest challengers.
Zak Brown will hope that McLaren have given Norris a platform to challenge Verstappen for the rest of the year.
Only time will tell if that’s the case, but he’s adamant that if the two drivers were in the same car Norris would come out on top.
Considering Red Bull have been linked with Norris for some time, they could make that a reality although Brown and team principal Andrea Stella would likely do everything they can to avoid that happening.
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Talking about his driver, Brown said: “I do think Lando can beat Max in a straight fight.
“I think it would be an awesome fight, I think many races would end in tears – for one or the other, or both.
“But I think as far as raw talent can be, I’ve not seen someone faster than Lando.
“I’m sure Max is just as fast, I’m sure some people will disagree and ultimately, we’ll never know until you see them in the same car.
“But, from everything I can see of Lando, I don’t see a faster racing driver out there.
“What’s exciting is Oscar [Piastri] can match him. As he gets more experience I think he’ll match him more often.”
McLaren star Lando Norris going from strength to strength in 2024
After five impressive seasons with McLaren, it’s impressive that Lando Norris is still improving every weekend.
While Red Bull chief Helmut Marko has said that Norris doesn’t scare him yet, Brown is much more bullish about his chances against Verstappen.
Former Haas boss Guenther Steiner says that the pair would be his dream partnership if he set up another Formula 1 team.
It’s hard to see that happening any time soon but would be a phenomenal battle between two of F1’s most impressive talents.
The post ‘Would end in tears’: F1 team CEO believes £305k-a-week driver could beat Max Verstappen in a ‘straight fight’ appeared first on F1 Oversteer.