"I don’t think Max Verstappen would have been eligible"- McLaren boss raises questions over F1's super license system

McLaren Racing team boss Zak Brown believes that the FIA needs to review and potentially modify the current regulations and requirements regarding the F1 super license. Given American driver Colton Herta's attempt at achieving the same, Brown emphasized that multiple world champions, including Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen, would not have received a license under today's regulations.

In a media interaction at Laguna Seca's IndyCar finale, Brown said:

“I think the whole licensing system needs to be reviewed. I get that the rules are what the rules are and that rules shouldn’t be broken, but I question whether just because those are the rules that are in place now that those are the correct rules. Someone of Colton’s caliber, or Pato’s caliber, or half the [IndyCar] field are Formula 1 capable. If someone like Colton who’s won a lot of IndyCar races isn’t eligible for a super license then I think we need to review the super license system.”

“I don’t think Max Verstappen would have been eligible for a super license, I don’t think Kimi Raikkonen would have been eligible for a super license. So, if you go back and look, there are a couple of guys, world champions, who wouldn’t have got their super license in today’s environment.”

The American IndyCar driver has proven himself to be a real talent within the sport, but currently has an eight-point deficit to the minimum requirement of 40 points that are needed to secure the super license. Rumors suggest that Herta could potentially replace Pierre Gasly at AlphaTauri in 2023.

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Lando Norris denies having team orders at McLaren

Lando Norris has emphasized that McLaren, like the other teams, places importance on working as a team rather than having a #1 and a #2 driver. The 22-year-old driver currently holds a whopping 69-point advantage over his teammate Daniel Ricciardo in the drivers' standings, although he insists that no driver is playing a "supporting role" in McLaren.

As reported by Motorsport-Magazin, the Briton said:

“I see far too much talk along the lines of ‘they only care about this driver and they don’t care about the other driver’. It’s not just for us, it’s for every team. I love it when people think they know what they are talking about when in reality they have no idea. Sometimes the complete opposite is the reality. Before every single race, we have a meeting where we go through how we can work well together as a team. It’s about how we don’t work as number one and number two.”

“Daniel can help me in certain situations and I can help him sometimes. We have that discussion every weekend. It’s literally the opposite of a division of roles with number 1 and number 2 drivers. It’s about how we can work better as a unit to have better results at the end.”

Meanwhile, McLaren's driver line-up for next season has been confirmed with Lando Norris and Formula 2 champion Oscar Piastri, who will be replacing Daniel Ricciardo.