McLaren Aiming For Both Titles Despite Sizeable Point Deficit Says Brown

Friday, 16 August 2024 at 22:00

McLaren's CEO, Zak Brown, suggested that his team does not give up in the battle for the Drivers' and Constructors' titles and aims to finish on top in both.

Whether Max Verstappen can secure the title wouldn't usually be a highly discussed topic with a 78-point lead in the Drivers' Championship. However, Red Bull's performance seemed to be on a decline in the last few Grand Prix weekends before the summer break.

Consequently, if Red Bull didn't improve over the summer break, while other teams in the top four did, the Dutchman and his team might be in trouble.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown certainly sees an opportunity as he suggested in an interview with Sirius XM that they are "certainly going to try" to win both.

"I think we can; we're certainly going to try [to win both titles]. Obviously, the constructors' is more within reach because of how many points are available at a weekend and the fact that they have only one car always performing at the front at the same time."

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At this point, other team bosses don't speak of winning anything this season, so McLaren's CEO's statement that his team is aiming for both titles shows a lot of confidence.

The Papaya team has consistently closed the gap to Red Bull in the Constructors', and if the same trend continues after the summer break, they should snatch first place.

While they are also going to try to win the Drivers' Championship, Brown acknowledged that the gap to the leading Dutchman is too big at the moment.

"But I think Sergio is capable of turning it on it at any time. And then I think the challenge on the drivers' side is Lando can go win seven races, but if Max finishes second or third — which is probably what he would do — the point spread isn't big enough."

"I think the point spread is what, seven points, and he's 70 plus points behind. So literally, Lando could go win seven races, and if Max finishes second, he still doesn't catch him. Now, obviously, there's ten races left."

Anything can happen in the last ten Grand Prix weekends, and although there aren't too many points awarded for them, it should be noted there are 3 Sprint races left as well. Brown added:

"DNFs happen, but those go both ways. So 100% we're going to give it all we've got for the Constructors' and Drivers' [championships], but you've got to say the drivers, mathematically, is a taller mountain to climb."