McLaren F1 Eyes World Titles with Solid Foundations

McLaren F1, led by Zak Brown, believes they have the necessary elements to compete for world championships.

Zak Brown is confident that McLaren F1 now has the technical and human resources needed to compete at the forefront of Formula 1. The CEO of the brand and team emphasized the progress made in acquiring all the right tools.

“Yes, I think that’s the case,” he stated on the Beyond the Grid podcast. “We’re constantly fine-tuning the machine, always investing in new technologies, but there’s nothing on the to-do list that isn’t part of the normal course of business.”

“The to-do list was that we needed a wind tunnel, that we needed significant things – the team we have in place, of course, is still recruiting a bit more, always looking to improve.”

But I am very pleased with our technical leadership team, our commercial team, our finance team, and all the components that make it up. So yes, I believe we have what we need, we just need to keep moving forward as a team.”

However, these advancements are not an end goal for Brown and McLaren, who aim to reach further milestones: “No, no. We are satisfied with where we are today, considering the quest we are on.”

“But the goal is to win the world championship and to win races. It’s not easy, and it has been a long time since we’ve done it. But we are determined, and that is what we are going to do.”

McLaren started 2024 “where we left off in 2023”

The American wants to do better, but he is especially pleased to see that McLaren now has a clear and precise momentum: “The goal, of course, is to contend for the world championship. We are not there yet.”

“But I feel that we have everything we need to achieve it. I don’t think we are very far off. I think the turnaround the team made last year from the beginning to the middle of the year was remarkable.”

“This speaks volumes about our team, our character, and our culture. I don’t think we would have done this in 2020. But we did it in 2023. And it’s great to start the 2024 season where we left off in 2023.”

Brown also praises the progress made over the past few years by his entire team, especially thanks to Andrea Stella: “I think we are a much better team. Andrea is doing a fantastic job as director and really leads the team.”

“We have great men and women who have done a good job, giving us a fast race car. We have two exceptional drivers, I think we have found a group of drivers we are very satisfied with and who will be with us in the near future.”

“I believe we have everything we need technically—the wind tunnel, simulation, and CFD are all in place. Now, it’s about continuing to work together as a team and allowing some of these elements to mature and help us have a faster race car.”