McLaren's Zak Brown expects even tighter fight in 2025
Ahead of the upcoming F1 season, McLaren's CEO Zak Brown has revealed that he anticipates an even tighter field in 2025, expecting the mid-field teams to close in on the top four teams even further.
Although McLaren's MCL38 slightly lacked outright pace at the start of the 2024 F1 season, it started to display consistency following the Miami victory, with either Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri being a constant presence on the podium.
By the British Grand Prix, the MCL38 had been established as the fastest car thanks to a raft of upgrades. Of these successes included a 1-2 finish at the Hungarian Grand Prix, McLaren's first since the 2021 Italian Grand Prix.
A mid-season upgrade introduced for the Dutch Grand Prix further improved performance, with Norris winning by over 27 seconds ahead of second-placed Verstappen, followed by Piastri's triumph at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix which moved McLaren up to first in the World Constructors' Championship.
This marked the first time since 2014 that McLaren had led the WCC. Although Ferrari came close to the Woking-based outfit in the closing stages of the season, McLaren secured the World Constructors' Championship in Abu Dhabi, with Norris finishing in first to earn McLaren their first Constructors' Championship since 1998.
Speaking of the upcoming F1 season, McLaren's CEO Zak Brown told the Autosport Business Exchange conference: "I think the field is going to be even tighter than last season.
"I see the top four teams being just as tight as they were at the end of the year... when you see the turnaround we had, there's no reason why other teams can't have that type of turnaround.
"I think we're going to start for an epic season... I think we're going to have an unbelievable three, four-way driver championship. And four teams fighting for the constructors' (championship). I think that's possible."
