Formula 1 isn’t like it was in the golden years. And this isn’t us moaning about the current state of the sport in terms of its expansive calendar, the Red Bull dominance, or even the crop of drivers. As a simple matter of fact, two of the most successful teams ever in this sport, McLaren and Williams, are just dwarfs compared to their old selves. That being said, past glories are exactly what McLaren CEO Zak Brown is relying on.

Between the two, only McLaren seems to be the most likely to make that big step up. And it’s all relative, anyway. On paper, the Woking-based team is having a torrid slump, and year-on-year it’s only getting worse. But for Brown, he has an ace or two up his sleeve.

Zak Brown declares ambitious McLaren plans

In 2023, every weekend is just about damage limitation for McLaren now. However, the stage is set, as per Brown, for the team to finally make that big step up as promised. With the cost cap settling in and the team working hard to recruit and build, it’s only a matter of time, according to the American, till the Papaya outfit tears the competition apart.

The Evening Standard quoted Brown as saying, “I think we will have everything we need, so there’s no reason why we shouldn’t. But we can’t underestimate the challenge. Think about Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull, unbelievable teams that had it all laid out for years.”

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“Breaking into that is tough, beating that is even tougher, but we will have everything they will and playing with the same size bat, so there’s no reason why we shouldn’t. It’s not like we’ve never done it before.”

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While Brown aims to look forward to 2024 and beyond, he clarified the reasons for their misery this year.

Daniel Ricciardo & Co. blamed for McLaren’s deficit

His time at McLaren has arguably broken Daniel Ricciardo. But if you ask Zak Brown, it’s the Australian who had a more detrimental impact on the team than the other way around. Ricciardo and other nagging problems are what led McLaren to the sorry state of affairs it finds itself in 2023, per Brown.

Express UK quoted him as saying, “We’ve got the budget, we had a really good driver line-up, but obviously we had a challenge with Daniel, but Lando [Norris] rings the neck out of our car, but we don’t have the technology infrastructure yet but our simulator and wind-tunnel come [in 2023].”

“We’re planning on challenging and being in the mix of the top three when we have all of our equipment. That’s certainly our ambition – so I don’t see any reason why [this wouldn’t be the case especially] if we had what we’re going to have here in the next 12 months, 24 months ago.”

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Can Zak Brown finally follow through on his word?