McLaren are one of the most successful teams in F1 history but it has been more than a decade since they were involved in a championship fight. This year, they equaled their best finish of the last decade in the championship table with a third-place finish. With a slew of changes in the upcoming season, McLaren’s CEO Zak Brown feels that they now have everything in place to take it to the next level

Link to poll: https://www.youtube.com/post/UgyoaP1MuqcCrHdqWa14AaABCQ
0:00 - McLaren Will Be Back As A “Big Team”
1:17 - Fast Feed

I'm your host Dillon Shelley and first up on Formula World:

McLaren Will Be Back As A “Big Team”

Brown began by praising team principal Andreas Seidl while acknowledging that it will take time to get back to the top

“I think we do have everything that we need. It'll take time. Andreas Seidl has done an unbelievable job leading the Formula 1 team”

He then pointed out all the positive aspects of the McLaren team

“We've got two great drivers. We've got the Mercedes power unit. We've got fantastic men and women at the racetrack and back at the factory all building towards this race car to make it go as fast as possible”

He further added that they finally have everything they need

“So, I think we need some time for it all to come together, but I don't think there are any pieces to the puzzle missing now. We've just got to put the puzzle together”

Brown summed up his words by explaining why they can regain their status as one of the top teams in F1

“We'll run at the cost cap now, so I think we'll be back being one of the 'big' teams”


Fast Feed

2020 world champion Lewis Hamilton thinks that “the respect between” drivers, “the FIA and the stewards has grown - and so has the understanding

He also added that “they won't catch” him for an illegal practice start “again” as he has “learned from it and it won't happen again”

FIA president Jean Todt is of the opinion that “the supremacy, the dominance of Mercedes and Lewis [Hamilton] is bigger than the one” they “had at the time, with Ferrari and Michael [Schumacher]”

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko finds it “difficult to say whether McLaren, Aston Martin or Ferrari will be the most dangerous opponent”

However, he is “convinced that” they “will be driving together with Mercedes at the front”

He further feels that “the others will be a little behind, but” they “are certainly not afraid of them”

He also suggested that their new driver Sergio Perez “will allow” them “to diversify” their strategies

James Vowles, Mercedes' chief strategist has pointed out that the red star dedicated to the late Niki Lauda is “still on the bodywork, just in a slightly different position”

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has revealed that his “father was very strict when it came to racing” as Max “had to be serious about it, otherwise” his father wanted him “to quit”

As such, Max “had to give it” his “all, while other kids were playing but, in the end,”, he’s “glad that” his father “was so strict with” him

Red Bull co-owner Dietrich Mateschitz feels that “Max lost a lot of points due to breakdowns, otherwise he would have easily finished second” in 2020

He suggested that they’re “getting closer to Mercedes, but behind” them “they're coming too. The competition behind Mercedes is very intense”

He therefore thinks that they “need two strong drivers next year and Perez is the best in that respect”

Dutch Grand Prix Sporting Director, Jan Lammers doesn’t think Red Bull’s new driver Sergio Perez “is actually the miracle solution that people often suggest he is”

He further feels that Perez “will just be fourth or fifth” at Red Bull “because only if two Mercedes, Verstappen and Leclerc fail, he wins the race”

Will McLaren soon be back as one of the ‘big’ teams in F1?