Following Carlos Sainz‘ 2021 Ferrari recruitment, McLaren brought in Daniel Ricciardo to succeed him. According to CEO Zak Brown, the Australian has that capacity to “immediately” be World Champion if he has the right car.

When Sebastian Vettel announced that 2020 was his last year with Ferrari, silly season practically exploded. With Carlos Sainz taking the vacant Ferrari seat, Ricciardo slotted into Carlos’s soon-to-be vacated McLaren seat from 2021.

The Woking outfit have been in rebuild mode ever since its poor stint with Honda. Fortunately, the team took a step in the right direction with P4 in the Constructors’ Championship and a podium to boot.  If McLaren can produce a competitive car, Daniel Ricciardo can get involved in the title battle.

“I think in the right car Daniel is capable of winning a championship immediately,” Brown told Sky Sports F1. “He’s extremely marketable from a commercial standpoint, he’s a very exciting driver. I think the combination of he and Lando will be awesome, and they’ll be kind of the fan favourites, on and off the track.”

Daniel Ricciardo is leading the charge for McLaren

The Australian has seven race wins under his belt, and Brown is confident that he the next piece of the McLaren puzzle. With an experienced driver like Ricciardo and a young gun like Lando Norris, McLaren have a well-balanced side.

“We’re kind of on this road to recovery, and last year was a big step forward. With that you need to have the best of everything if you can get it,” he explained.

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“I think in a relative short period of time Andreas [Seidl] as our team principal has been a great addition to our team, James Key has started, then a lot of people you don’t see behind the scenes, who ultimately contribute to a race team being successful.

According to Zak Brown, the Woking squad restructured the entire leadership team to where they feel is the perfect position. McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl really has the race team where he wants it.

Brown also praised his current drivers, though he knows that having seven-time winner is an excellent benchmark. In addition to that, it gives Lando Norris a chance to raise his game against a tougher opponent.