“Not going into 2022 thinking we’re going to be a championship contender,” McLaren CEO Zak Brown expects a long route to the top

“Not going into 2022 thinking we’re going to be a championship contender,” McLaren CEO Zak Brown expects a long route to the top

Zak Brown

Making their first appearance in Formula 1 in 1966 and winning 8 Constructors’ titles, McLaren Racing is one of the most successful and oldest teams in Formula 1. The team, over the years, has produced some of the most brilliant drivers of the sport, such as Lewis Hamilton, Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, and Ayrton Senna.

After piling up 275 points in the 2021 F1 Constructors’ Championship, McLaren is looking forward to getting closer to the front field in 2022, even as we’re heading into the new era of F1. McLaren will be launching their new car MCL36 on the 11th of February 2022, which will make them the fourth team to do so, after Haas (VF-22 – February 4), Red Bull (RB18 – February 9), and Aston Martin (AMR22 – February 10).

What are Brown’s expectations from McLaren in the 2022 season?

Zak Brown
Zak Brown

Last season, the UK-based team won its first race since 2012 at Monza and almost won another at Sochi. The team had more poles in the 2021 season than in 2020.

Zak Brown, being as cautious in his interview as he could’ve been, said, “I think it’s great we won our first race this year [2021]. We need to be careful not to raise expectations to an unrealistic level.

“I don’t want to say our goal in 2022 is to win two [races] – our goal is to continue to get closer to the front of the field.

“Of course, we’re going to give it everything we’ve got. But we still have a couple of years of technical catch-up that we just can’t accelerate any further or faster than we are. We still have technical infrastructure that we’re catching up on, most notably our wind tunnel. I’m not going into next year [2022] thinking we’re going to be a championship contender.”

McLaren has grown tremendously since 2017, increasing points by a big margin year and again. They’ve come from 30 points in 2017 to 275 in 2021, credited to the same CEO Zak Brown, who has fulfilled his duties diligently and seems to be in complete control of the team’s growth.

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