McLaren won’t be distracted by title talk in Abu Dhabi showdown

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has insisted the team is not distracted by talk of clinching the constructors’ championship at the Formula 1 season finale in Abu Dhabi.

McLaren has a 21-point lead over Ferrari in the standings, and with both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri ln the front row of the grid while Charles Leclerc’s 10-place grid penalty and qualifying difficulties mean a back of the grid start for Ferrari, Brown could be forgiven for feeling overconfident.

However, he has not worked out the permutations that would see his team crowned as the champions – but has nonetheless sought some advice from his NHL-playing friends and Super Bowl champion, Michael Strahan for some assurance.

“We’re trying to do what got us here this weekend and not race differently. Not to think about the championship,” said Brown.

“There’s not a lap where I am calculating the championship [standings] ‘he’s in that position. He’s in that position. Where are we?’

“I’d be lying if I said it’s pretty stressful. The team’s relaxed.

“I’ve spoken to a lot of other athletes that have been in this situation. Mark Messier [six-time Stanley Cup Champion]. Michael Strahan [who won the Super Bowl with the New York Giants in 2007/08]. Anze Kopitar [Slovenian professional ice hockey centre and captain of the Los Angeles Kings] and they’re all like, ‘if you’re not nervous, you’re lying’. So of course, there’s adrenaline and nervousness.”

Brown admitted that if the team was to blow its lead in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, then it would be “soul crushing”, but speaking ahead of qualifying he said if they do indeed miss out, then they need to figure out why – and quickly.

He added: “Of course, we’ll be massively disappointed not to win it, but I think we’re going to have to – if that unfortunately happens – we need to shift quickly to look at what we’ve done this year and where we’ve come from.

“We’ve come from the brink of insolvency to five race wins, second most amount of podiums consecutively in the history of McLaren, gone down to the last race against Ferrari, beat Red Bull and Mercedes.

“So if you asked me, at the beginning of ’23 you finished second in the championship, won five races, 14 podiums in a row, I would have bitten your hand off.

“I just think, of course, we’ll be disappointed, but we’ll need to quickly shift to just reflecting on what we have…