Zak Brown not expecting McLaren to ‘rebound’ as quickly as Ferrari did

Zak Brown not expecting McLaren to ‘rebound’ as quickly as Ferrari did

Zak Brown

Red Bull dominated F1 in 2022, especially during the races. However, in qualifying and during the early parts of the season, they were given a serious run for their money by Ferrari. They were able to weather that storm. Later on during the season, Mercedes, who had started squarely third-best came back at Ferrari. They were often the second-best team to Red Bull and finally took their first win of the season in Brazil. But RB still won 17 out of the 22 races held.

Red Bull were the team to beat, but in terms of the podium positions, there were only really three teams in the mix. Them, Ferrari, and Mercedes occupied all the podium spots but one – Lando Norris’ P3 in Imola. That was the only podium finish outside the top three teams. This was quite disappointing, especially because the sport has been taking steps to ensure closer competition and increase excitement. However, McLaren CEO Zak Brown does not think that the top teams’ domination made the sport boring.

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McLaren, with Norris, were the only team apart from the top three to score a podium finish. But even if it’s slim pickings considering the team’s ambitions, Zak Brown felt the races were exciting. In an interview with RacingNews365.com: “The racing was great and while the season was absolutely dominated, it didn’t feel like a boring season at all. If I go back to when [Michael] Schumacher dominated, the races were a yawner from the word go, whereas these [races] were all exciting.”

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Zak Brown: McLaren still missing key infrastructure

Zak Brown at a press conference during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (IMAGO / PanoramiC)
Zak Brown at a press conference during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (IMAGO / PanoramiC)

Ferrari were nowhere in 2020 – finishing in P6, far behind fifth-place Renault. This was quite a surprise considering they were runners-up in 2022, but perhaps not if you keep the engine controversy in mind. 2021 was a year of recovery for them, and they spent the vast majority of the season battling McLaren for the ‘best of the rest’ spot. McLaren won a race – and Ferrari didn’t, but they were able to beat the British team over the season.

In 2022, they return to the front, fighting Red Bull early on in the season. While it soon faded away due to their own missteps and other factors, the potential was there for all to see. They recovered rather quickly. On the other hand, McLaren have never been able to compete for either title since 2012, in the days of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.

When asked why Ferrari were able to get back to the front so much more easily than McLaren, Zak Brown said: “Ferrari has had all the tools in place to produce the type of race car they’ve produced this year, [such as] the wind tunnel, they have all their equipment. Don’t forget that they had their engine issue [in 2019/20] which seemed to hurt them once the FIA stepped in, so when I look at how quickly they rebounded, they should have been there in the first place.”

According to Brown, Ferrari have got the drivers, the budget, and the technology required to rebound so quickly. On the other hand, McLaren are still missing some of their infrastructure – their new wind tunnel and simulator will come into play in 2023. And so because Ferrari have the infrastructure and McLaren don’t, Brown did not expect to come back to the front as fast as the Italians.

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