McLaren feels the potential to catch Red Bull! But boss Zak Brown warns of unpleasant surprise

Their pilgrimage last year began with unpleasant memories and parallels to their time with Honda. At the end of it, however, grand prix victories were knocking on the door. McLaren had risen from almost rock bottom in the space of a few months to a position that was making wrinkles for the fastest stables. Expectations around McLaren are at an extremely high level. CEO Zak Brown, while raising hopes of an excellent season, warns of a potential clash with reality over Red Bull’s form.

In its heyday, however, one of the leading stables of the queen of motorsport, McLaren has been in the upper echelons of midfield for more than a decade.

Outside of an exceptional result in Italy in 2021, the second longest running stable in Formula One continues to wait for a season in which it can unquestionably challenge for the world championship.

Last year’s campaign did not get off to a rosy start for McLaren. Up until the eighth Grand Prix in Canada, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri had combined for just five podium finishes.

The turnaround came with the deployment of a major upgrade package for the Brit in Austria and then in the UK for the Australian. A huge leap up followed, accompanied by several podium finishes and a sprint win at the Qatar Grand Prix.

McLaren is thus, on paper at least, one of the black horses of 2024, which it entered triumphantly by being the first team to reveal the livery of its new car.

Brown warns of unpleasant surprise

In an article for the official F1 website, McLaren boss Zak Brown did not hide his positive outlook in gradually building on the fantastic form of last season into this one.

“I feel confident. I think everyone at McLaren has done a fantastic job this off-season. Obviously the development of the car continues, we have the specification ready for our launch. Expect to see further improvements throughout the year.”

Brown, of course, like any F1 stable boss, believes McLaren can close the gap to the cars of the other teams ahead of it. At the same time, however, he points in a cautionary manner to the team at the very top of the grid.

“Obviously we want to continue to close the gap. I think last year we finished as the second or third fastest team depending on the circuit. But Red Bull certainly doesn’t seem to have developed the car to the level it could reach last year. So it could be a nasty surprise for all of us!”

Source: F1