Zak Brown is putting business before personal feelings for McLaren’s greater good. The American businessman knows the F1 2026 regulations will usher in a series of changes in the sport, including some alterations in the engines that support the race cars. While the papaya army is currently under a contract with Mercedes, Brown wants to look elsewhere for a possible engine-supplying alliance. That is why recent reports suggest that he is strengthening his relationship with Red Bull despite past differences. And at a recent interview, the 52-year-old even agreed to visit RBR ally Ford’s factory last year.

All F1 cars need a robust engine to power them, and for McLaren, this comes from the house of Mercedes. The Stuttgart-based manufacturer has started working on an engine that follows the 2026 rules, but still, Zak Brown is not convinced the product will stand up to the current World Championship winner Red Bull. Meanwhile, the Austrian outfit is developing its engine for the ’26 season with technical guidance from the American automobile manufacturing brand, Ford.

Perhaps, Zak Brown has seen the need to get Red Bull’s engine so that his recruits, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, can stand up to Max Verstappen in F1 2026. Hence, he is trying to warm up to the Milton-Keynes-based team even though McLaren’s current engine deal with Mercedes will run till 2030. Speaking on his interest in the engine that Red Bull and Ford are working on, Zak Brown has confirmed he is invested in its progress. He even recollected his visit to the RBR engine factory. The McLaren CEO said to AMuS, “I have a great relationship with Jim Farley (Ford CEO). We met last year and then visited the factory.”

Zak’s piqued interest in a deal with Red Bull has arrived at a time when there is an ongoing feud between his star racer Lando Norris and the Dutch lion Max Verstappen. The RBR racer held back Norris from scoring any points at the recently-held Austrian GP, but Brown had said he does not blame Verstappen for the fiasco. Did he say this because he does not want to step on Red Bull’s toes by blaming their golden boy as he wishes to land a deal with them?

Zak Brown did not blame Verstappen after the Austrian GP

McLaren racer Lando Norris has repeatedly made Zak proud with his back-to-back podium finishes in the last few races. But when the Belgian-British driver attacked Max Verstappen for the race win in Austria, a terrible incident happened. Lando’s and Max’s cars had a contact, leading to huge damage to the McLaren MCL38. Thus, Norris had to retire from the race. The papaya army boss Andrea Stella blamed Verstappen for Norris’ nil score in Austria as he said, “The entire population in the world [knows] who is responsible.”

However, Zak Brown did not agree with Stella as he held back from putting all of the blame on Max Verstappen. Rather he held the F1 stewards at fault for not punishing the Dutchman when he had caused similar incidents in the past. Brown said, “I don’t blame Max, he is driving at the limit, he is a world champion – and that what he is doing isn’t correct, I wouldn’t expect him to drive any differently. We need some more consistency around our stewarding.” Thus, even though Andrea Stella and even Lando Norris threw some shade at Red Bull and Max Verstappen after the Austrian GP incident, Zak Brown held back. The Americans, in fact, found the FIA stewards to be at fault for their inconsistent policing.

Do you think he shifted the blame because Verstappen is Red Bull’s recruit and he needs to appease the Austrian outfit now to land an engine deal with it? Share your opinions in the comments below.