Zak Brown's been chatting with Max Verstappen about a potential move to McLaren, and now he's actually put a timeline on when it could happen. In an interview with De Telegraaf, the McLaren boss revealed he's had exploratory talks with the Red Bull driver and reckons a deal could materialise in 2028 or 2029. That's a bombshell for anyone paying attention to the McLaren driver situation, because if Verstappen rocks up, someone's getting the short end of the stick.

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Brown was pretty complimentary about Verstappen too, describing him as charming and a racer through and through. He said those conversations left him genuinely impressed on a personal level, not just on track. The McLaren chief made it clear the door's wide open for Max, and he'd love to work with him one day. It's been an open secret that these two have been exploring a potential partnership, but hearing Brown actually name specific years changes the game entirely.

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The real drama here is what happens to Oscar Piastri. If Brown's serious about bringing Verstappen in, Piastri would almost certainly be the one forced out. Lando Norris is Brown's golden boy and already locked in, so Piastri becomes the casualty in this potential shake-up. That's rough considering Piastri's got serious championship potential. When he and Norris were on equal footing earlier this season, they were going toe-to-toe every single weekend.

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Piastri's good enough that he'd have no trouble landing a top seat elsewhere though. Any team would snap up a driver with his talent and potential. A Verstappen and Norris partnership would certainly look impressive on paper, two world champions working together, and it'd give McLaren some serious firepower. But for now, the door's open, the speculation's ramping up, and Piastri's probably already thinking about where he might need to be by 2028.

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