Ex-F1 team boss mocks Zak Brown’s cringeworthy radio call

Former Haas F1 chief Guenther Steiner has poked fun at McLaren boss Zak Brown’s cringeworthy team radio message to Lando Norris.

McLaren driver Norris achieved a lifelong dream as he clinched his maiden F1 world championship by finishing third in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Following the chequered flag, McLaren Racing CEO Brown came over team radio to say to Norris: “Lando this is Zak from McLaren, is this the the world champion hotline?”

Brown’s message and tone of delivery has been ridiculed by fans, with some going as far as to call it “the worst championship radio of all time”.

Speaking on an appearance on The Red Flags Podcast, ex-Haas team principal Steiner was asked for his thoughts on the message.

“I think he tried to be funny there, and sometimes when you try to be funny you are not funny,” Steiner said. “That’s my opinion. It is quite dull. It is not a funny joke.”

Asked whether he thinks Brown is generally a funny guy, Steiner replied: “He is pretty good but maybe you try too hard to be funny then it’s not funny anymore.

“Or maybe you think it would be cool to say and you bring it out and it’s ‘is this the championship hotline?’ Yeah whatever!”

When asked what he would have said if his driver had won the world championship with Haas, Steiner quipped: “I have a better chance to walk on water than to pull off a championship at Haas. I can try to do that one, you know!”

Steiner did at least get to congratulate former Haas driver Kevin Magnussen after he secured a shock maiden pole position for the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix sprint race.

“I think I radioed in but I did not tell that this was the pole position hotline. I don’t have that good sense of humour” Steiner joked.

“Zak normally is pretty funny, but you know sometimes we try too hard, all of us and it doesn’t work. When you try too hard and miss the target.”