The FIA’s swear police would be having a field day. “S---,” exclaims Zak Brown as he dumps a forehand into the net during an early morning game of tennis with the Telegraph at Melbourne’s national tennis centre on Friday.

Max Verstappen is regularly linked with a Red Bull exit and McLaren chief executive Zak Brown has admitted even he has explored the possibility of signing the Dutchman

Max Verstappen 's management was involved in a phone call with McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown 'some time ago', but the American executive's interest dried up after he 'knew how much he would have to pay'.

Going forward, Verstappen's management insists on pre-approving the 27-year-old's involvement in any social media projects before agreeing to participate. The move coincides with a De Telegraaf report that McLaren CEO Zak Brown recently contacted Verstappen's management team, which includes his father Jos.

After struggling with setup issues through Australian Grand Prix practice, Max Verstappen was surprised by his Red Bull car's performance on Saturday as the Formula 1 defending champion took third place in qualifying for the season-opening race.

Max Verstappen’s third-place start at the Australian Grand Prix “will be ideal” in the event of rain at Albert Park on Sunday. That is the claim of Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko, who has revealed that Red Bull have struggled with tyre overheating in the final sector throughout the weekend in Melbourne.

Liam Lawson was knocked out of qualifying in his first session as a senior Red Bull driver, having been off the pace all weekend. The Kiwi driver only set the 16th and 17th fastest times in FP1 and FP2 before being kept off the track for most of FP3 with a power unit issue,

Although Max Verstappen enters this year as the defending Champion, the consensus is that he could struggle to claim a fifth world title. Red Bull’s development last season was poor by the Austrian team’s usual standards,