McLaren boss Brown BLASTS Red Bull chief over Norris health claims

A Formula 1 team boss has hit out at comments made recently by a key Red Bull figure regarding mental health.

It comes following a thrilling race at the United States Grand Prix on Sunday, where Charles Leclerc romped home to clinch a third victory of the season ahead of Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz.

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Much of the attention, however, was on the battle between championship rivals Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, who went wheel-to-wheel in pursuit of the final spot on the podium.

Norris thought his persistence had finally paid off with a handful of laps to go, getting past the Dutchman to move into third.

But having completed the overtake off-track having been forced wide by his Red Bull counterpart, the McLaren man was hit with a five-second penalty, meaning their positions were reversed at the chequered flag.

The result extended Verstappen's lead over the Brit in the championship to 57 points with just five races remaining.

What did Marko say?

In a recent interview with Motorsport-Magazin.com, Verstappen's Red Bull boss Helmut Marko weighed in on the debate over who was the favourite to take the championship, and was scathing in his assessment of the reigning champion's competition.

"[Max] is the best, he's the fastest and, above all, he has the mental strength to theoretically fight for the world championship more than Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris," Marko said.

"We know Norris has some mental weaknesses. I've read about some of the rituals he needs to do to perform well on race day."

Those comments are believed to be in reference to comments previously made by Norris revealing his struggles with anxiety ahead of grands prix.

Addressing the statements made by Marko, McLaren CEO Zak Brown has now accused the 81-year-old of setting the sport 'back 10-20 years'.

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Speaking to Autosport.com, Brown said. "I read Helmut's comments, which I thought were disappointing but not surprising.

"Lando has been kind of an ambassador for mental health. Toto [Wolff] has spoken about mental health, so I think it's a serious issue that we've tried to talk about and bring to the forefront.

"Poking at that situation I think is pretty inappropriate and kind of sets us back 10-20 years.

"It's all fun and games in how some people go racing and what tactics they use from a sporting perspective, but I thought that one was in pretty poor taste."

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