Zak Brown, the McLaren chief executive, has insisted that he has had \u201cno conversations\u201d with Max Verstappen over a potential move from Red Bull.<\/p>\n
And he says McLaren is \u201cvery happy\u201d with its current driver pairing of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.<\/p>\n
McLaren boss Zak Brown: \u2018No conversations\u2019 with Max Verstappen<\/p>\n
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google<\/a> to your favourites list for news you can trust<\/p>\n Verstappen has been linked with a move away from Red Bull following the team\u2019s challenging start to the F1 2026 season.<\/p>\n Although he is officially under contract until the end of 2028, it is widely understood that Verstappen\u2019s deal contains a clause allowing him to leave the team for 2027 if he is lower than second in the drivers\u2019 standings at the time of the summer break.<\/p>\n With just two races left before the summer break, it is mathematically impossible for seventh-placed Verstappen to catch George Russell, the driver currently occupying P2 in the championship.<\/p>\n Analysis: British Grand Prix<\/p>\n British GP conclusions: Leclerc\u2019s Hamilton answer, no Russell fear, in defence of FIA<\/a><\/p>\n British GP 2026 driver ratings: Hamilton penalty, Verstappen crash, Leclerc\u2019s luck<\/a><\/p>\n Russell sits 78 points ahead of Verstappen, who retired from last weekend\u2019s British Grand Prix, with a maximum of 50 available from the next two races in Belgium and Hungary.<\/p>\n Mercedes has been heavily linked with a move for Verstappen over recent years, with Russell forced to wait until October to receive a new deal last year.<\/p>\n With Russell understood to be close to triggering an automatic contract extension for 2027, however, McLaren has emerged as a potential alternative destination.<\/p>\n McLaren announced the signing of Verstappen\u2019s long-serving race engineer GianPiero Lambiase in April, with his move from Red Bull set to be completed \u2018no later\u2019 than 2028.<\/p>\n Rumours at last month\u2019s Austrian Grand Prix claimed that McLaren had held talks with Verstappen\u2019s representatives over a potential deal.<\/p>\n Appearing in a press conference at Silverstone last weekend, however, Brown insisted any suggestion of a move for Verstappen is mere speculation.<\/p>\n He told PlanetF1.com and other media outlets: \u201cThey\u2019re rumours. No conversations.<\/p>\n \u201cI usually don\u2019t talk about my dinners but last night I had dinner with Nigel Mansell, which was really cool. He\u2019s won this race a bunch.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very happy with my two racing drivers, Lando and Oscar, and I think any time a name like Max is thrown around everyone gets pretty excited.<\/p>\n \u201c[He is a] four-time world champion, but very happy with our driver line-up.\u201d<\/p>\n Pressed on how serious talks got between Verstappen and McLaren, he insisted: \u201cThey didn\u2019t go anywhere. I\u2019ve got my two drivers, so there\u2019s nothing to report.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked if a move for Verstappen will not happen any time soon, he added: \u201cCorrect.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked directly by PlanetF1.com what McLaren could offer Verstappen that Red Bull cannot, he replied: \u201cI haven\u2019t really thought about that because I\u2019ve got two drivers in the seats.<\/p>\n \u201cSo what I couldn\u2019t offer him was a seat in my race car.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I think McLaren\u2019s an awesome team. So is Red Bull and so is Alpine and so is Ferrari. The Formula 1 teams are amazing.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we\u2019ve got a unique environment, but as do all race teams. But we\u2019ve got a great race team that\u2019s had a lot of success and I think it\u2019s a good place to work, whether you\u2019re a racing driver or a team principal or a mechanic or whatever you may be at Team McLaren.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Verstappen did not deny that his management had spoken to McLaren and whether a move to Woking would appeal to him.<\/p>\n Speaking on Thursday at Silverstone, he told PlanetF1.com and other media outlets: \u201cI\u2019m not going to involve myself in that. I\u2019ve said what I wanted to say already before.<\/p>\n \u201cIf there\u2019s something new or something that changes, you will hear it from me and not from someone else.<\/p>\n \u201cI just focus on the job that I have with my team. We are on the way up, so that\u2019s really nice to see.<\/p>\n \u201cI had a really positive weekend in Austria and we just try to improve from there.<\/p>\n \u201cI know, of course, it can be quite tough, there\u2019s a lot of competition, but we\u2019re here just to try and go fast.\u201d<\/p>\n Additional reporting by Thomas Maher<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n