From Max Verstappen as Barry Bonds to Charles Leclerc as Bryce Harper: McLaren CEO names MLB counterparts for F1 superstars

McLaren CEO Zak Brown recently made interesting comparisons between F1 drivers and MLB athletes. Brown mentioned names such as Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc and their parallels in America's favorite pastime.

Brown stopped by the "6-1-1" podcast hosted by MLB legends Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard. The episode coincided with the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday, when Brown's McLaren team, consisting of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, claimed a 1-2 finish in the main race.

Brown, the only American-born team boss in F1, first compared Verstappen to arguably the greatest slugger in MLB history, Barry Bonds.

"Max [Verstappen] never misses," said Brown. "From what I see, Barry [Bonds] had a little bit of an edge to him, from what I hear in the clubhouse. So Max has a little bit of edge to him. But was damn good," he added. (32:17-32:24)

Known as a generational talent, Verstappen has won four straight championships from 2021 to 2024 and is still just 27 years old. In 2018, he became the youngest race winner in history when he triumphed in the Spanish Grand Prix at the age of 18.

Brown also compared Ferrari star Charles Leclerc to Phillies slugger Bryce Harper.

"Charles has got some emotion in his game, which I love. It kind of strikes me as I've seen enough of Bryce over the years. It seems like when he gets agitated, he kinds of let you know."

Brown capped off the segment by comparing Lewis Hamilton to Mookie Betts for their aura and calm demeanor, Norris to Freddie Freeman for being nice without losing a killer instinct, and Piastri to Paul Goldschmidt for being low-key while still delivering results on the field.

McLaren boss Zak Brown's love for MLB

Although he's originally from Los Angeles, California, Zak Brown is a self-professed MLB and St. Louis Cardinals fan.

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Last May, Brown had the privilege to toss the ceremonial first pitch at Busch Stadium to his friend Paul Goldschmidt in a game against the Baltimore Orioles.

About the author

Daniel Santiago is a journalist who has been reporting on baseball at Sportskeeda since 2022. He was drawn towards the sport after the underlying statistics and the analysis surrounding it grabbed his attention.

Daniel particularly enjoys furnishing reports about historic events in baseball and analyzing the game through a statistic-based outlook, based on Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference. This is in line with how he enjoyed watching baseball as a pastime. As a writer, he is very particular about cross-checking from reputable sources and doing his due diligence.

He became a lifelong Hideki Matsui fan after his exploits in the 2009 World Series for the New York Yankees. Among the current generation, Daniel's favorites include Shohei Ohtani and Jung Hoo Lee. Daniel is a huge follower of Asian baseball and both Ohtani and Lee have been in the top echelon of their respective leagues during their time with the NPB and KBO.

His favorite moment as a baseball fan was the final at-bat of the 2023 World Baseball Classic between Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. He believes there aren't many words to fittingly describe the intensity of the moment.

As an avid sports fan, Daniel watches other sports and Esports when not writing about baseball.

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Edited by Daniel Santiago