‘Paddock whispers’ suggest Zak Brown has now escalated his interest in Max Verstappen

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Zak Brown’s interest in bringing Red Bull superstar Max Verstappen to McLaren has apparently progressed to the negotiation stage.

It emerged following McLaren’s Gianpiero Lambiase swoop that Brown was considering a move for Verstappen, the other half of F1’s most prominent driver/engineer partnership.

While he isn’t yet committed to continuing in F1 amid heavily-publicised qualms with the new regulations, the four-time world champion is still being monitored by Red Bull’s rivals.

Zak Brown has spoken to Max Verstappen’s camp about a move to McLaren

Technically under contract until the end of 2028, Verstappen has an exit clause in his deal that will become active in August if he’s outside the top two in the world championship. He’s currently seventh, 54 points behind George Russell.

This means Verstappen is very much on the market, and Daniel Moxon of The Express has heard ‘paddock whispers’ that Brown has spoken to his camp already. It has now gone beyond mere interest.

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Publicly, Brown is clear that he’s ‘happy’ with McLaren’s current driver line-up, which is unsurprising given that they have delivered back-to-back world titles. Since the start of 2024, the pair have combined for 20 race wins.

But that doesn’t mean that Brown wouldn’t take the opportunity to upgrade his pairing if he could sign one of the sport’s all-time greats. Mercedes’ interest in Verstappen has cooled, it seems, following Kimi Antonelli’s stratospheric leap at the start of the year.

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Moxon corroborates reports elsewhere that Piastri is Red Bull’s top target if Verstappen leaves. Indeed, a ‘sensational swap deal’ could be on the cards should McLaren recruit the Dutchman.

But if Piastri turns them down and Verstappen moves on, then Red Bull could turn to a more familiar face.

The report states that Williams duo Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz are on the team’s shortlist of potential options.

Sainz is a product of the Red Bull driver academy and he started his career alongside Verstappen at Toro Rosso (now Racing Bulls) in 2015.

Like Sainz, Albon has an exit clause in his Williams deal, one that could come into play after the Grove outfit’s disappointing start to F1’s new era. The Thai driver previously raced for the team in 2019 and 2020.

Red Bull are open to external options, having previously prioritised drivers within their own pool during the Christian Horner/Helmut Marko regime.