McLaren Formula 1 CEO Zak Brown is confident the team has maintained its development pace from last season and believes that wins will be possible during 2024.
The Woking-based squad produced one of the most remarkable mid-season turnarounds last term, having begun the year struggling with an underdeveloped package.
However, the introduction of a phased upgrade package in the summer elevated McLaren into front-running contention, with the team landing a total of nine podiums.
Unlike rivals Ferrari and Mercedes, McLaren has been able to build upon a car concept it understands heading into 2024 with its MCL38 challenger, launched on Wednesday.
Brown has revealed that the data from its 2024 creation looks promising and should leave McLaren well-poised to commence the latest season on an even stronger footing.
“We feel good. It’s been a good winter, we’re happy with the development,” he told Sky F1 ahead of McLaren’s shakedown at Silverstone with the MCL38. “Never quite happy enough, but I think all the men and women at McLaren have done a fantastic job.
“Feels like we’ve continued on our development pace from where we were the second half of last year. So as long as the data is accurate, I think we should start pretty strong.
“Of course, you never know what the competition’s doing. But we definitely feel we’ve taken a step forward.”
Although a grand prix win proved elusive amid Red Bull’s dominance, McLaren outscored every team except for the reigning champions with its overhauled MCL60 car.
Brown is confident that if McLaren can continue improving at the same rate it managed last season, race victories will beckon for Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
Asked where he expects McLaren to operate this season, Brown replied: “I think I’d say ambition versus expect, because you ultimately don’t know what the competition’s done and no one’s standing still.
“Our hopes, our goals, our ambition is to definitely take a step forward. We finished fourth in the championship last year, but the second half of the year we were the second, third quickest team. So our ambition is to move forward from there.
“We see no reason why if we don’t continue on the development pace, why we can’t be winning races at some point over the year.
“So, you know, lots of podiums and some wins are certainly the ambition. Time will tell whether we’re fast enough and what the competition’s done.”
McLaren announced last month that it had tied Lando Norris down to a long-term extension, a week before it was revealed Lewis Hamilton will move to Ferrari in 2025.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff admitted that the marque’s options to replace the Briton had been reduced in recent weeks as Charles Leclerc also renewed with Ferrari.
However, Brown said he wasn’t aware of the Hamilton to Ferrari negotiations, adding that getting Norris signed to a new deal was about ensuring the team retained stability.
“We were aware that there was potentially some movement, but that didn’t really have anything to do with Lando, we’d signed him up previously,” Brown disclosed.
“We were just waiting for him to get back to actually make the announcement.
“But we knew that Lando and of course Oscar, but we have Oscar signed up for a while [through 2026], were both hot properties.
“So it was less about knowing specifically what was going on with Lewis and Ferrari and Mercedes as much as knowing Lando’s top of everybody’s list and ours included.
“And we had a really strong second half of the year and I think Lando’s got the same confidence we do in the team and belief in ourselves. And so it was great to get them signed up.
“And I think what I’ve really focused on is bringing stability to the team. So with our new hires, our existing team, Andrea [Stella, Team Principal], our technology infrastructure, we’re just trying to keep our head down, be focused and some drama going on in the sport at the moment, we don’t wanna be part of it.”
