McLaren chief Zak Brown has jokingly challenged Mercedes boss Toto Wolff to a boxing match in Las Vegas when Formula One visits the city for the inaugural Grand Prix there later this year.
F1 has exploded in popularity in America in recent years and the introduction of a Vegas race means three Grands Prix are being held in the US for the first time since 1982, with the Miami and United States Grand Prix also on the calendar.
And Brown wants to celebrate F1's return to Vegas for the first time since the Caesars Palace Grand Prix was scrapped by getting in the ring with Mercedes rival Wolff for a boxing match.
Speaking to Sky Sports at the Australian Grand Prix, a cheerful Brown issued his challenge. "We were talking about racing Christian [Horner] in Silverstone, because I used to race against Christian," he said.
"And I've talked to Toto about it, let's see if he's up for it. When you go Vegas, what's Vegas known for? [A] Little boxing match? I'm ready."
Brown's challenge elicited some laughs from the Sky crew, who proceeded to suggest boxing nicknames for the pair with Brown dubbed "Slugger" and Wolff named "Terminator."
It comes after McLaren sealed their best result of the season so far in Melbourne, with Lando Norris finishing sixth and Oscar Piastri eighth. "It was great for Oscar to get points in his home race," Brown said following the race.
"The team did well, stayed out of trouble and sometimes you get luck your way and sometimes you don't. It's early days but everything we're seeing is he's pretty much going to be a match for Lando — at least that's our hope.
"I'm sure Oscar will be saying, 'Actually, maybe Lando should be a match for me'. They're definitely very close, you can see it on the overlays that there’s not much between the two and I think Oscar just needs a bit more experience to put it together on a lap-by-lap basis in the way Lando can."
