Zak Brown happy with second position at the Dutch Qualifying, claims he ‘Never expected to beat Max Verstappen’
McLaren has set realistic goals ahead of the 2023 Ditch Grands Prix taking place today.
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Max Verstappen and Zak Brown (via imago)
The Dutch Grand Prix qualifying results are out and as expected, Max Verstappen emerged with the pole position. While Lando Norris gave him a solid competition, qualifying in the second position, his team principal Zak Brown clarifies, he never expected Norris to beat Verstappen.
In the post qualifying show, McLaren team principal, Zak Brown shares how McLaren has kept their goals realistic. One of the biggest bounce-back in the season so far has come from McLaren. They have been performing exceptionally. Yet the team has not been a competition to all-dominant Red Bull.
Its Red Bull’s domination era and the team is untouchable. Zak Brown hoped that both of his drivers would qualify in the top 5 but he too had not dreamt as far as beating Max in that super-fast Red Bull.
The Dutch Grand Prix qualifying results showed Lando Norris qualifying in 2nd position, while teammate Oscar Piastri qualified in eight. Team Principal Zak Brown is happy with the results, although he hoped Oscar Piastri would be in the top 5.
Zak Brown in the post qualifying says, “No I never got that confident. But I thought we had a chance with both cars. Because they have been flirting with the top positions over the weekend. But pretty hard to beat Max.”
The Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort saw Lando Norris give intense competition to Verstappen. There were a lot of times when the fans believed that Norris might beat Verstappen in the qualifying of his home race. Even though the competition was tough, McLaren never hoped of beating Red Bull and is quite happy with the second position on the grid that they have achieved.
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Mclaren improved from finishing last to finishing on Podiums
McLaren has changed the game. From finishing last in the first race to finishing on podiums, the team has been performing tremendously. They are now easily overtaking Ferrari, Mercedes and Aston Martin and the Dutch GP has shown that can give competition to Red Bull as well.
Since McLaren introduced upgrades to their MCL60, the team has been experiencing a remarkable surge in their performance. In recent races, Lando Norris has showcased his driving skills by securing an impressive 4th place in Austria, a phenomenal 2nd place in Silverstone, and a commendable 3rd place in Hungary. Notably, Norris’s teammate has also exhibited improved performance, further contributing to the team’s success on the track.
Thanks to the advancements implemented by McLaren, the team has managed to elevate its position to an impressive 5th place in the constructor’s championship.
This remarkable achievement was made possible by the introduction of a series of upgrades that were strategically unveiled during the highly anticipated Austrian and Silverstone grand prix events. The impact of these enhancements are clearly evident on the racetrack. The team has been performing exceptionally and although they are still a far way from beating Red Bull, they sure are not keeping their goals unrealistic and are taking it one step at a time.
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Varad Joshi
(940 Articles Published)