McLaren Formula 1 CEO Zak Brown has admitted the team must strive to become the “complete package” in order to challenge Red Bull on a more consistent basis.
The Woking-based squad has continued to build on last season’s unprecedented turnaround that saw it progress from Q1 eliminations to achieving regular podiums.
Lando Norris capitalised on McLaren’s latest upgrades at Miami to obtain his maiden win, while the Briton also challenged Max Verstappen at Imola and in Montreal.
But with Red Bull continuing to remain the benchmark, Brown has stressed that McLaren has to match the Austrian outfit in all departments to become a title threat.
“If you look at Red Bull the last few years and Mercedes before that, typically the teams that win the championship are kind of the best at everything,” he told theScore.
“If you look at Red Bull the last few years, they’ve had the fastest car. They’ve had the least amount of tyre deg.
“They’ve had the best pit stops. They’ve had the complete package to win on a regular basis.
“So, I think we have two great drivers. We clearly have a very fast race car. We have very good pit stops but have room to improve.
“Our reliability is much stronger. So, we’re knocking on the door. It’s just about being a little bit incrementally better everywhere.”
Coming into the latest season, despite a sluggish start, McLaren has reaffirmed itself as a leading contender for consistent podiums and victories in the recent races.
Brown sees “no reason” that trend can’t continue but also admitted McLaren “need to continue to evolve our racing car and racing team at the pace we’ve been doing”.
Nonetheless, he expects Ferrari to rebound from a challenging outing in Canada to showcase the form that has seen the Italian outfit win two races to date this term.
Brown also noted how Mercedes was a genuine threat in Montreal and believes that McLaren’s revival last season shows a squad can soon make up sizeable ground.
“I think it’s very close between the three teams today,” Brown examined.
“I think we’ve been very strong, but Ferrari was very strong in Monaco, and Red Bull started off dominating once again.
“So, I think if we were starting the championship today, it would be a three-way fight, but I still think there’s a long way to go.”
“If you look at the turnaround we had last year, it would be naive of anyone to be writing Mercedes off for the balance of the year. Maybe too late for them to go win the Constructors at this point, but we turned our season midway through [2023] and made up a larger gap in points from where we are today to Aston [Martin] than where Mercedes is to us today,” he added.
Meanwhile, Brown also hailed Norris and team-mate Oscar Piastri, the sole two drivers to have finished all nine races to date, as “the best line-up” on the entire roster.
The American has denied there has been a marked change in Norris since his Miami win and explained the Briton has been “always very focused and extremely fast”.
“For sure, it’s nice to get the win and get that out of the way,” he added.
“I’m sure he didn’t love the statistic of having the most podiums ever without a win, but he never vocalized it. I never saw it bother him,
But of course getting your first win out of the way, when that’s what he’s been focused on his entire life, must build his confidence and relax him a little bit but I don’t notice that.”
Brown also lavished praise on Piastri as he highlighted he has seen a continuous improvement in his driving in the opening exchanges of his sophomore campaign.
“I think what’s extremely impressive about Oscar is he’s driving better than ever,” Brown said. “He’s had a fantastic rookie season, but he has such a mature head on his shoulders.
“He doesn’t act any differently today than he did last year. You know, he didn’t act like a rookie last year. Clearly, he was. We’re seeing in his driving continuous improvement.”
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