All McLaren departments F1 world championship material – Brown

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has claimed all departments of its Formula 1 team are “world championship material” after years of investment.

Brown took the helm at the Woking-based outfit during a time of financial instability last decade and, despite further hardships which included rumours of a takeover by Audi, the American’s commercial nous has seen McLaren become one of the most heavily-backed teams on the grid by sponsors.

With that income secured, a number of infrastructural improvements were made at the McLaren Technology Centre alongside changes to the management structure and team personnel.

Now that the incomings have settled, Brown believes all facets are firing towards championship success.

“It’s all coming together,” Brown told Autosport in an exclusive interview at the Belgian Grand Prix.

“We’ve got our great investment from our shareholders and our sponsors. We’ve got great drivers, we’ve got a great technical team, and the entire leadership team, the technical team need the resources, the fan base, the corporate partner base in order to be able to do what they’re doing.

“Andrea uses the term world championship material and I’d like to think all departments, which feed into performance, either directly or indirectly, are all world championship material.”

Brown’s belief can be backed up by on-track performance as the team hones in on Red Bull’s position at the top of the constructors’ standings, thanks to Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri both adding to consistent podium finishes with their maiden F1 victories.

For Norris in particular, the win was a long time coming after numerous near misses – not least the 2021 Russian Grand Prix – and failures in turning pole position into triumph.

Since his win in Miami, Norris’ view of podium finishes seems to have changed from delight to frustration when he fails to take to the top step, and asked what has changed in his driver, Brown said: “I think the aspiration to win has only gotten greater.

“He’s always been a great driver, the only thing that’s taken so long is us giving him a car to be capable of winning in. Now he’s running at the front on a regular basis, so I think expectations are clearly higher.

“We know we’re coming into these races here most recently with the chance to win every weekend. So with that comes some more excitement, but higher…