The Las Vegas chapter of Formula One is underway, but not without a bout of controversy. McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri battled to get beyond the 6th and 7th spots. Their company CEO, Zak Brown, was there in the broadcast booth to offer verbal support. Yet ironically, the McLaren head could be heard shouting words of encouragement to a rival team – and this riled up fans.

McLaren chief gives out controversial call

Lewis Hamilton was on fire right since practice and qualifying. As the second qualifying phase began, he pumped in a 1m 33.136s – marginally quicker than George Russell’s Q1 time of 1m 32.312s. The Mercedes driver beat his McLaren rival Oscar Piastri just by a 1000th second adrift. But Hamilton suffered a heavy lock-up on his first Q3 run and then experienced a wild slide through Turn 3 on his second attempt. During the final race on the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway circuit, Hamilton put up a strong fight against George Russell – with an opposing team head rooting for him.

While chipping in his thoughts on the broadcast channel, McLaren CEO Zak Brown was heard cheering for Lewis Hamilton. He apparently shouted out, “Go, Lewis, go!” This shocking side shuffle happened even while Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were struggling to make a mark for McLaren.

This strange incident calls to mind Brown’s decision back in 2016 – whether to work for F1 or McLaren. After deciding to work for the papaya family, he transformed the brand and took it to a global level – the most recent venture being the World Endurance Championship this year.

Throughout the 50-lap battle in Sin City, Lewis Hamilton was a huge threat to his rivals. He sliced up the gap from 10th place to 2nd place in the first few laps and hounded George Russell for the first spot. McLaren driver Lando Norris made some impressive shots to advance – like on lap 40, he was 16 seconds away from Max Verstappen with 10 laps left. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton kept his teammate Russell on the edge, slicing up the gap. However, Zak Brown’s driver Norris could not best Verstappen, who finished 5th and clinched his 4th World Championship in a row.

As Brown’s drivers suffered, his own indifference enraged fans.

Fans fire shots at Brown

Brown’s apparent defection did not make fans at Las Vegas Motor Speedway particularly happy. McLaren fans took Brown to task for rooting for a rival team racer when his own team was suffering. Brown instead got caught up with Hamilton’s runner-up pace, and blurted out his emotions. One fan pointed out this mysteriously calm nature: “Zak Brown is very unserious, about “go, Lewis, go” 😂 #LasVegasGP” 

This lighthearted take was not shared with other fans, though. Ditching your own team and rooting for another can indicate a lack of sportsmanship. So another fan harshly declared: “get zak brown off my screen.”

McLaren and Mercedes have been neck-to-neck rivals in F1 for many years. For instance, while Mercedes won both qualifying and the race at the 2024 Silverstone event, Brown’s brand could have clinched both. Then Hamilton himself left McLaren to join Mercedes in 2013 and won the title in 2015. So displaying an utter lack of awareness of this enmity enraged fans. One fan commented, “zak brown does not have one competitive bone in his body bc wdym he said “go lewis go”??”

At the end of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Zak Brown’s drivers could not match their rivals’ pace. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri could not do much to advance, as they finished 6th and 7th respectively. Meanwhile, Hamilton was a podium finisher beside the race winner Russell, who is also a Mercedes driver. So the lack of support for Brown’s own team revolted fans. “Such a pathetic team leader no wonder McLaren not winning anything this year and the team is so stupid.” Another fan chimed in: “Zak brown shamelessly rooting for Mercedes because his drivers are pulling a bottle job.”

Evidently, team McLaren did not have a very pleasant day. Now we look forward to the next event for Brown’s drivers to prove their mettle.