First it was explaining “papaya rules” and team orders prioritising one driver over the other. Now it is the intense scrutiny and the legality of the team’s rear wing.
With McLaren’s return to the top of the constructors’ championship, it has also unearthed new challenges for the Woking-based team.
Maintaining team harmony as it fights at the sharp end, and dealing with the mudslinging from rivals, is a new test for the team’s CEO Zak Brown.
Brown, along with team principal Andrea Stella, deserves huge credit for overseeing the team’s resurrection. Discussing the team’s journey back to the front in the Singapore Grand Prix paddock, he assesses whether the team has exceeded his expectations, given the wretched start to the season his team made in 2023 where both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri finished out of the points in the first two races.
“We’ve exceeded our timeline,” Brown clarifies. “I thought we would get to where we are now, or in this ballpark, but I could never be like ‘we are going to get to number one’ by next year.
“Why? Because the team has done a fantastic job, but the wind tunnel did not come online and by the time it did, this car was already done. People like Rob Marshall [had not yet joined from Red Bull].
The McLaren team celebrate the race win of Oscar Piastri, McLaren F1 Team
Photo by: Dom Romney / Motorsport Images
“Now, we are at 100%. Full strength. But we know the minute we back out of the throttle, you are back down to 95% so we have to maintain the momentum we have.
“We have a great team, so it is about not losing anyone and continuing to build where we can, so it is about making sure we don’t slow down.”
Brown came under pressure from the McLaren board to deliver results after a miserable 2022, as the team finished the season in fifth place. He says that pressure of fighting for his job is what spurs him on today.
“I’m still scarred, and hopefully permanently scarred, from the start of 2023,” he says.
“There’s two types of people in this world, those that are motivated by the thrill of victory and those that are motivated by the fear of defeat. I’m motivated by the fear of defeat, which gets me out of bed every day.
“It’s probably the unhealthier, yes, more stressful and probably explains why I had ulcers a year and a half ago!
“But I’m never relaxed, I’m never comfortable, and I think being uncomfortable is a good thing. Managing it is important but I don’t feel like I’m ever going to…
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