McLaren’s title defence didn’t start as planned this season, but Zak Brown and his team have been working to close the gap. Their performance in Miami offered a bit of hope.
They had a solid weekend, with a one-two finish in the sprint race followed by a second and third in the main event. Both Norris and Piastri showed pace, holding their own against Mercedes across the weekend.
“It’s been a tough start to the year. I think they were pretty much always two-tenths ahead. I think probably last year we went back here, especially when you compare to what it was like at the beginning of 2023,” said Zak Brown via Sky Sports.
“We’re getting closer and that gap between where we are now and where we need to be is now three or four tenths not quite as close as maybe it looked on paper.”
Zak Brown’s Thoughts on McLaren’s Title Chances Might Make Their Rivals Nervous
Lawrence Barretto, speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, shared what Zak Brown told him ahead of a Q&A session with the McLaren CEO in Miami.
Barretto put the question to Brown about whether he felt McLaren could still fight for both championships despite their rough start. Staying true to his confident style, Brown backed his team to stay in contention.
“I did a Q&A with Zak just ahead of the weekend. Just before we went on stage, I just asked him, ‘Do you think you can fight for both championships?
He was like, ‘Yeah, I definitely think we can.’ Zak doesn’t tend to do that when you’re just having a chat with him unless he genuinely believes that they can get in that fight.
“I think that belief echoes right through McLaren at the minute. When you’ve got that, it’s an incredible strength of yours to be able to have to come to a track because it’s going to scare everyone else.”
McLaren’s mid-season development record could worry other teams
On the same podcast, Barretto highlighted McLaren’s reputation for making solid gains during the middle part of the season as another reason behind their growing confidence.
“Every time you tell them they’re bringing a big upgrade, you’ve already won slightly because everyone else is like, ‘Uh oh.’ I think there is a gap. Of course there is.
“But I think we’ve really seen so far in McLaren’s dominant period that they can turn things around, and I think they can just once more.”
Norris noted after the Miami Grand Prix that McLaren had made noticeable progress, especially given how closely they were able to race Mercedes throughout the event.
Even though their qualifying result wasn’t what they’d hoped for, McLaren still left Miami with plenty of positives to build on as the season moves forward.
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