F1 | Zak Brown: ‘A matter of time’ until Verstappen and Hamilton collide, but rivalry is ‘great for F1’
The McLaren CEO says it will create an opportunity for the team if the title contenders come together during the 2021 season.
Speaking at the launch of McLaren’s special livery for this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix, CEO Zak Brown expects Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton to collide at some point during the season.
The Dutchman and Brit have gone wheel-to-wheel at all four events this season, with the duo coming very close to colliding at the start at Imola and in Spain.
Brown hopes that if a crash between them happens, it will open up a fantastic opportunity for his drivers to collect a fantastic result.
“I think rivalries are great for the sport and having those two guys go at it is good,” said Brown, according to Motorsport.com.
“Hopefully, at some point over the course of a year, that creates an opportunity for us, because I think it is just a matter of time until they both are determined to not let up in to Turn 1 and neither come out.”
However, Brown also believes the rivalry is great for the sport and says it’s the first time since 2016 that Lewis Hamilton has had a proper challenger for the World Champion.
The American added he thinks Hamilton is now at the top of his game thanks to the fight Verstappen is bringing.
“I think it's great for F1,” said Brown. “Lewis has had a pretty easy ride out, apart from his one year with Nico [Rosberg].
“So I think it's a great rivalry. I think Max has gotten Lewis to step up, not that he's needed much stepping up. But he's definitely on his A game.
“I think it's clear that Lewis is a very smart driver. You can just see him sitting there waiting to strike and isn't kind of overeager. I think that's his experience coming through.”
Lando Norris believes the title fight is fun. He also thinks Verstappen needs to take risks like he did in Spain as he believes Red Bull is slightly behind Mercedes in terms of pace at the moment.
“Max goes for those opportunities, like Turn 1 [in Spain],” said Norris. “It was quite a risky thing.
“If Lewis had turned in, they would have crashed. So Max was pretty committed with his move. But they are the opportunities Max needs to take at this stage because they [Red Bull] are a bit slower.
“But it's also what makes it fun, because then Lewis has to come back through and try to get past him. So it's fun.”
