McLaren Aims for Titles - Human Factor Still Crucial

McLaren is confident in their F1 car, but the human factor remains critical for securing championship titles this season.

Can McLaren F1 claim both world titles this year?

CEO Zak Brown believes so, but remains grounded: the MCL38 can stay ahead in the Constructors’ Championship and may even allow Lando Norris to catch up to Max Verstappen.

But to achieve that, McLaren must be flawless in the remaining six races, including three Sprints.

“We have to focus on one race at a time,” says Brown.

“Every time I talk to Andrea Stella about how we’re going to perform on a circuit, he doesn’t tell me, or at least not yet, ‘We’re going to win this race.’”

“He’s quite conservative, grounded, just to keep us pushing. At the start of the year, I definitely thought Max would win all 24 races.”

“Now, he hasn’t won in eight races. So we know how quickly things can change in six or seven races. There’s still a lot to do, and we have to make sure we don’t get too comfortable.”

The McLaren MCL38 has proven strong on all types of circuits, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri winning in Miami, Hungary, Zandvoort, Azerbaijan, and Singapore.

Norris’s dominance, especially in Singapore, dealt a blow to Red Bull. So, is there really much for McLaren to worry about?

“No particular race concerns us, except for the fact that we generally worry before each race weekend about doing well with the great machine we have. I think that keeps us on our toes.”

“There are tracks where we think we’re better than others, but none where we feel weak now that we’ve won on all types of circuits.”

“We’re pretty confident with our car, but we still have to get the most out of it. The human element is crucial here—both the drivers and the team. It’s good to remind ourselves of that from time to time.”