Zak Brown has poured cold water on the idea that Max Verstappen could follow his long-time race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase to McLaren in 2028, telling reporters at the Miami Grand Prix that he is fully committed to Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri while leaving a small opening for the future.
The speculation lit up after McLaren confirmed that Lambiase, Verstappen's race engineer at Red Bull since 2016, will join the Woking outfit as Chief Racing Officer at the end of 2027. Verstappen himself called the partnership with Lambiase "very rare in racing", and silly-season chatter about the four-time world champion eventually following his trusted voice over the radio quickly intensified.
Brown, asked directly whether the Lambiase deal could pave the way for Verstappen, did not bite.
"I couldn't be happier with our driver line-up," he said. "Lando and Oscar are not only two awesome guys, on the track, off the track, but as team mates."
The McLaren CEO was just as clear when pressed on Verstappen's individual qualities, refusing to dismiss the Dutchman's class while reiterating that no door was actually open.
"He's an awesome racing driver, so if a gap opened up that's a different conversation, of course," Brown added. "I'm happy with what I've got, so I hope I'm not looking for a driver."
Both Norris and Piastri are tied to McLaren on multi-year contracts, and the team has emerged from Miami as the second force on the grid behind Mercedes after another double-podium showing. Brown's comments are likely to frustrate the wave of pundits who have argued that the Lambiase recruitment, paired with Verstappen's unease about Red Bull's 2026 power unit, makes a transfer all but inevitable.
He also took the opportunity to broaden the praise beyond his own garage. Reflecting on the wider 2026 grid, Brown singled out Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli, who has won three of the opening four races and now leads the championship.
"I almost kind of feel like he's the championship favourite, sitting here at the moment," Brown said of the 19-year-old.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has separately mocked the idea that any pre-contract activity is in play, dismissing what he called "mythical pre-contracts" between rival drivers and the team.
The context for the question is unmissable. Verstappen has spent much of the early 2026 season publicly critical of Red Bull's RB22, openly admitting to a steering issue that the team only fixed in time for Miami. Lambiase has been the calmest voice in the cockpit through that turbulence, and his pending exit is being read by some as the first crack in a once-impenetrable wall.
Brown's message in Miami was that the wall on his side is just as solid. He has the championship-leading constructor, two drivers under contract, and no obvious need to chase the most expensive signature in the paddock. But he also did not deny that, in another timeline, the conversation might be very different.
Source: formula1.com