All departments at McLaren now ‘world championship material'
McLaren has undergone a remarkable transformation in recent years that has culminated in a team boasting "world championship material" across all of its departments, according to Zak Brown.
The vision of the McLaren Racing CEO has extended far beyond financial stability, with the American spearheading infrastructure upgrades at the McLaren Technology Centre, revamping the team's management structure, and strategically recruiting talented personnel.
In summary, the Woking-based outfit has assembled all the necessary ingredients for a return to Formula 1 glory.
"It's all coming together," Brown told Motorsport.com.
“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."
McLaren's on-track performance reflects this holistic approach. With Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri consistently challenging for podiums, including maiden victories for both, McLaren is rapidly closing the gap to Red Bull at the top of the constructors' standings.
Norris, in particular, has evolved from a promising talent into a race winner, shifting his perspective from delight at podium finishes to frustration when he doesn’t claim the top spot.
"I think the aspiration to win has only gotten greater,” commented Brown.
"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 expectations and more pressure, but we're all enjoying it."
The team’s newfound competitiveness has also altered McLaren’s overall mindset, especially as they now regularly contend for wins.
"It has, only because of how many times we've finished second and now that we've tasted winning,” said Brown.
"Second certainly still is an awesome result, we always celebrate every podium because it's a huge accomplishment - we're not taking it for granted. But we want to win and we know we're in a position to win.
"So when we finished second, as we have this year, by a second or a half a second, as we did in Imola and so close in Canada, that feels a little bit flatter of a podium, than a few years ago when we were just starting to get back on the podium."
Despite the significant progress, McLaren has faced some challenges, particularly in race strategy and operations, which have come under scrutiny in recent races.
Brown attributes these missteps to the team’s relative inexperience of racing regularly at the front of the pack.
"I think some of the mistakes that we've made this year have been from the youthfulness of a team that's not run at the front as regularly as we are now,” he argued.
"Silverstone we didn't optimise, Hungary we got there at the end, but not without some excitement. So I think it's just going to take a little bit more time.
"I think Toto [Wolff, Mercedes team principal] eloquently said sometimes you don't learn this stuff until you're in the heat of the battle and so now that we're in the heat of the battle, we're learning some stuff as we go along but that's okay.”
As McLaren continues to grow and learn from its experiences, Brown remains optimistic and relaxed about the team’s trajectory, confident that these lessons will only make them stronger in their pursuit of championship glory.
"What I always tell the team is mistakes are okay, just learn from them and don't make the same one twice. That makes you smarter the next time around,” he stated.
"So I'm quite relaxed with the learnings that we've gone through this year."
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