Candid admission from the McLaren CEO
Last winter, Max Verstappen predicted that McLaren could be his most dangerous rival in 2024—and he was right. The Woking team finished fourth in the Constructors’ standings in 2023 after a challenging start but displayed remarkable competitiveness from the Austrian GP onward. This level of performance carried into 2024, culminating in a Constructors’ Championship victory—their first in 26 years.
A customer team in terms of power unit supply managed to outperform their parent company Mercedes and outclassed a resurgent Ferrari, widely regarded as their strongest in a decade. Meanwhile, Red Bull suffered from a flawed RB20 project. The car’s updates failed, and Sergio Perez endured a disastrous season, with crashes costing nearly $5 million. Thanks to points amassed early in the season, Max Verstappen retained his Drivers’ Championship relatively comfortably, as his rivals consistently took points off each other.
McLaren, however, often made fair-play decisions that inadvertently hindered Lando Norris’ pursuit of Max Verstappen, especially during Red Bull’s struggles. Zak Brown, McLaren’s CEO, admitted that in 2024, the team encountered challenges beyond its expectations. The team, led on track by Andrea Stella, was not mentally prepared for such circumstances.
“Our goals for 2024 were to secure a top-three finish in the Constructors’ standings and celebrate Lando Norris’ first F1 win,” Brown told *Autosport*. “In 2024, we found ourselves in a position we couldn’t have imagined in a million years. Mentally, we were unprepared. Now, we know we have what it takes to fight for both championships, and we will head into 2025 with that as our objective.”
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