Zak Brown can’t see any reason why McLaren teammates can’t remain good teammates despite the F1 title battle, as he sees the team structure to be perfect.
After battling Red Bull and Max Verstappen last year, McLaren is focused more on the battle of the teammates for the 2025 F1 season. Even though the Dutchman is around Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, it will be a difficult task for the four-time champion to topple both of them.
Even then, he’s hunting the McLaren duo at every opportunity and making it as difficult for them. For Piastri and Norris, it is the ultimate battle, where the Australian is seemingly having the larger hand at the moment, with the Brit in catching mode after 12 races.
After what transpired in Canada, it looked like that things may go downhill from then but Norris handled it well after raising his hand and apologising. Piastri took it well as well, but it was because the Australian managed to finish the grand prix when his nearest title rival didn’t and lost points.
For Brown, he sees it as a big moment in how the F1 title battle may shape-up between the two teammates. He sees no reason why it will flare up, as he banks on the relationship and chemistry built over the years. “I think the relationship they have is fantastic,” said Brown.
“We’ve put a lot of time and effort into building our team and having a chemistry within the team, and that starts with the drivers. I think you saw how they handled Canada, how they’ve conducted themselves, and I see no reason why they can’t have a big battle all the way to the end.
“May the best man win, and I’m sure they’ll shake hands and congratulate each other. Obviously, both of them want to win, but I see no reason why, knowing the personalities and the way they race, that they can’t remain very good team-mates,” summed up Brown.
The McLaren chief also credited the structure of the F1 team for the success in not only preparing a good car, but handling the two drivers. After Andreas Seidl left the team, they drafted Andrea Stella at the helm, which seemingly has been a masterstroke in their turnaround.
In addition, they hired several big names from their rivals and sees no real reason to change things apart from certain tweaks here and there. “We’re very happy with our structure,” he said. “It’s working.
“You’re always, like a race car, modifying, tweaking, and enhancing, but we haven’t had any senior leadership change in a couple years and definitely don’t anticipate any moving forward. What we’re doing is working, and we just want to keep our head down and keep doing what we’re doing.”
Here’s Lando Norris on suspension topic
Here’s Brad Pitt driving McLaren F1 car
