McLaren Formula 1 CEO Zak Brown is confident that the team has maintained its progress from the previous season and believes that they will have the opportunity to achieve victories in 2024.
Last year, McLaren started off struggling with an underdeveloped package, but they were able to turn things around in the middle of the season with the introduction of a phased upgrade package. This led to the team securing a total of nine podium finishes and putting them in contention with the front-runners.
Unlike their rivals Ferrari and Mercedes, McLaren has been able to build upon a car concept that they understand heading into the 2024 season. Their MCL38 challenger, which was unveiled on Wednesday, shows promising data and puts McLaren in a strong position to start the season.
“We feel good. It’s been a positive winter for us, and we’re satisfied with the progress we’ve made,” Brown stated in an interview with Sky F1 before McLaren’s shakedown at Silverstone with the MCL38. “We’re never completely satisfied, but I must commend all the individuals at McLaren for doing an outstanding job.”
“It feels like we’ve continued to develop at the same pace as we did in the second half of last year. So, if the data is accurate, we should have a strong start to the season,” Brown added. “Of course, we can never be certain about what our competitors are doing, but we definitely believe that we have made progress.”
While McLaren was unable to secure a grand prix win due to Red Bull’s dominance, they outscored every team except for the reigning champions with their revamped MCL60 car.
Brown is confident that if McLaren can maintain the same rate of improvement as they did last season, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will have the opportunity to achieve race victories.
When asked about McLaren’s expectations for the season, Brown replied, “I would say it’s more about our ambition rather than our expectations because we can never be sure about what our competitors have done and no one is standing still.”
“Our hope, our goal, our ambition is definitely to move forward. We finished fourth in the championship last year, but in the second half of the year, we were the second or third quickest team. So, our ambition is to continue progressing from there,” Brown explained.
“We see no reason why, if we continue to develop at the same pace, we can’t win races at some point during the year. So, our ambition is to achieve numerous podium finishes and secure some wins. Only time will tell if we are fast enough and how our competitors have performed.”
McLaren made an announcement last month stating that they had secured Lando Norris for an extended period of time. This news came just a week before it was revealed that Lewis Hamilton will be joining Ferrari in 2025.
Toto Wolff, the team boss of Mercedes, confessed that their options to replace Hamilton had been limited recently due to Charles Leclerc’s contract renewal with Ferrari.
However, Zak Brown, the CEO of McLaren, stated that he was not aware of the negotiations between Hamilton and Ferrari. He emphasized that signing Norris to a new deal was primarily about maintaining stability within the team.
“We were aware that there might be some movement, but that had nothing to do with Lando as we had already secured him previously,” Brown revealed.
“We were simply waiting for him to be available to make the official announcement.
“However, we knew that both Lando and Oscar, who is also signed with us until 2026, were highly sought after.
“So it was more about recognizing that Lando is at the top of everyone’s list, including ours, rather than knowing the specific details of what was happening between Lewis, Ferrari, and Mercedes.
“We had a very strong second half of the year, and I believe that Lando shares the same confidence and belief in the team as we do. Therefore, it was fantastic to get them both signed up.
“What I have really focused on is bringing stability to the team. With our new hires, our existing team members, our Team Principal Andrea Stella, and our technology infrastructure, we are determined to stay focused and avoid getting caught up in the current drama within the sport.”
According to the Source motorsportweek.com