McLaren CEO Zak Brown recently admitted that the team needs to step up their technology to be able to challenge the top three teams in the upcoming seasons.
The Woking-based team had a rather underwhelming season in 2022, despite the fact that Lando Norris was the only driver from a team outside the top three to have secured a podium in 2022.
Speaking to Speedcafe, Brown pointed out the critical gaps that McLaren would need to fill to return to their winning days and take a step ahead from the midfield. He said:
"Well, I think closing the gap to the front of the field - we kind of have two data points to pay attention to."
"One is how close are we to the team that's winning, and if that team is not Mercedes. Our other data point, given we share the same engine, is how close we are to Mercedes. Those are our two primary data points, and we want to be closer to them next year when we were next year..."
"I would like to get back up to at least fourth in the Championship, but I think we're going to need a little bit more of our technology in place to really break into the top three."
McLaren won their last Grand Prix back in 2021 at Monza, with Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris securing a 1-2 finish.
McLaren disappointed with "tough" 2022 F1 season
Zak Brown claimed that after having been on an upward trend for several seasons, McLaren were certainly disappointed to have finished the 2022 F1 season fifth in the constructors' championship.
He spoke specifically about the struggles the team faced with Daniel Ricciardo. The Aussie was unable to deliver at the same level as his teammate Lando Norris, costing the team significant championship points in their battle for P4.
Speaking to Speedcafe, Brown highlighted the ups and downs of the season:
"[It was a] tough season, for sure. Fifth is disappointing coming off of fourth and, prior to that, a third. We had our challenges. We definitely had some good weekends – a nice podium by Lando."
"Then of course, we really struggled to come to grips with Daniel to maximise his performance. So as you guys are well aware that was difficult through, really, the entire season in the media that was around that."
McLaren chose to end their contract with Daniel Ricciardo a year early and announced that 2021 Formula 2 champion Oscar Piastri would be replacing the eight-time Grand Prix winner in 2023. Speaking about Piastri's debut with the team in the upcoming season, Brown added:
“We’re super-excited to have landed another Aussie in Oscar – and that wasn’t without a little bit of arm wrestling and drama. So yeah, a tough year.”
Over the course of the year, McLaren were battling Alpine for fourth in the constructors' championship, however, the British team were simply unable to keep up with the French outfit at the end of the season.
Gloss