McLaren boss seemingly cites Max Verstappen's father as the team refuses to move on from the controversial Austrian GP clash

McLaren boss Zak Brown has cited Max Verstappen's father's tense relations with Christian Horner as a sign of Red Bull lacking respect. The British squad is not in any mood to let things go and move on from what happened in Austria. Brown made it a point to highlight that Red Bull's team radio and their conversations with the driver led to the incident.

During the race in Austria, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris were battling for the win and were involved in intense wheel-to-wheel action. What that entailed was both drivers being very aggressive against each other. Norris had tried a few divebombs on Max while the Red Bull driver had moved under braking multiple times.

The battle culminated with both Max Verstappen and Lando Norris having a collision that spoiled the race for both drivers. While both drivers have made up with each other, the McLaren team boss was in no mood to do that. He questioned Red Bull's approach in terms of what it says to its driver and even hinted at Jos Verstappen's relationship with Christian Horner as a sign of a lack of respect. Here's what he said: (As quoted by Motorsport.com)

"I'm also disappointed in such a great team like Red Bull that the leadership almost encourages it, because you listen on the radio what was said. We all have a responsibility on pit wall to tell our drivers the do's and don'ts of what's going on in the race, and so I think we need to have respect for regulations."

He added,

"We've seen there be lack of respect - whether it's financial regulations, or sporting, on track, issues with fathers and things of that nature. I just don't think that's how we need to go racing. We need to guide our drivers on what's right or wrong, and I think had it been addressed earlier, maybe that incident wouldn't have taken place."

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Horner's view on the collision between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris

Christian Horner, on his part, felt that the collision between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris began in Barcelona when the Red Bull driver was pushed on the grass. According to Horner, since both drivers are fighting for the top position, the intensity has continued to increase at every weekend, culminating in the collision in Austria.

Unlike his McLaren counterpart, the Red Bull team principal seemed eager to move on from the incident, confident that both drivers would learn from it.

"For me, that incident started a week earlier on the run down to Turn One at Barcelona, where Lando had him on the grass. You are seeing they are starting to get feisty. These guys are racing each other and racing hard throughout their careers. You know what Max is like. He will fight for every inch of tarmac. I'm sure Lando will learn from that and Max too," he said while speaking to Sky Sports.

It remains to be seen if McLaren will let the issue pass and instead focus on the upcoming races.