Ruthless Max Verstappen makes Zak Brown eat his own words on ...

Zak Brown’s claim that Max Verstappen is only winning because Red Bull have the fastest car came back to haunt him as Verstappen landed a telling jab live on TV after beating Lando Norris to the 2024 World title.

Verstappen wrapped up his fourth successive Drivers’ Championship title at the Las Vegas Grand Prix as his P5 under the lights gave him an unassailable 63-point lead over Norris.

Max Verstappen could not resist the light-hearted dig

Additional reporting by Elizabeth Blackstock

The championship was Verstappen’s most challenging since 2021 as Red Bull’s fluctuating form meant for much of the season he was not the driver sitting in the fastest car on the grid, that was Norris.

But according to Brown, at least “six, seven” drivers could’ve won the World title if they’d been driving Verstappen’s car.

The McLaren CEO told the Beyond the Grid podcast back in May after Verstappen had won four of the season’s first six races: “I don’t think without a star driver, you’re going win, so you need both.

“First, it does start with the car. People ask me all the time: ‘is it car or driver?’ And it’s like: ‘well, it’s both’.

“I think the way I characterise it is, I think there are six, seven drivers on the grid that will be World Champions in the Red Bull.

“As great as Max is, and he’s one of the best ever, I don’t think Max wins the World Championship today in any other car other than the Red Bull.”

Verstappen was quick to remind the American of his words as Brown interrupted an interview to congratulate the four-time World Champion, adding: “You earned it.”

“And like you said,” Verstappen replied with a smile and a hug, “before I could only win it in the fastest car. This year has been a little bit different.”

Brown took the ribbing well, and again congratulated Verstappen before walking off: “Well done, well done.”

More on Max Verstappen’s championship success

????Max Verstappen shuts out the noise to show nice guys finish last

????The updated Drivers’ and Constructors’ standings after the Las Vegas GP

Could Max Verstappen have won in a McLaren or Ferrari?

Speaking to the Dutch media after the race, Verstappen admitted that the barrage of criticism that both he and Red Bull faced this season from the likes of Brown only inspired him.

“Things like that only motivate me,” he said. “If people are critical and think I can only win in the best car, I prove them wrong.”

As for whether he’ll now receive more credit for his success having been told it’s just the car, he laughed: “If I don’t get it now, I don’t know what else [I need to do].”

In fact, if you ask the 27-year-old, he could’ve won this season if he’d been racing Norris’ McLaren. “Yes, even earlier.”

The Ferrari? “Pretty much the same, I think.”

The Mercedes? “No, that would have been a bit more difficult.”

Winning the championship in a season in which Verstappen and Red Bull have faced several contentious issues ranging from the Christian Horner investigation to constant questions about Verstappen moving to Mercedes, Horner applauded his driver’s Verstappen’s ability to rise above.

“I think in any adversity, adversity would always galvanise a team, and that’s certainly what has happened with this team,” the team boss told the media including PlanetF1.com.

“And I think that there’s huge pride in this championship, that often there’s noise or speculation, and all of that’s been ignored, most of all by Max.

“He hasn’t been distracted; he’s just got in and got on with the job, and I think that there’s obviously areas that we need to improve for next year and the team’s very focused very hard on that and how we build on this for consecutive championships.”

Read next: Las Vegas GP conclusions: Verstappen unbeatable, Hamilton v Leclerc clues, Red Bull warning