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Zak Brown has labelled Otmar Szafnauer's comments about Oscar Piastri in the wake of a dispute over his services as "inaccurate and unfair". The row erupted when Alpine named Piastri – who had been serving as their reserve driver – as part of their 2023 line-up following Fernando Alonso's exit for Aston Martin, only for Piastri to later deny that he had signed for Alpine. Piastri had agreed a deal to race at McLaren as Daniel Ricciardo's replacement and the case was taken to the Contract Recognition Board, with the verdict going in McLaren's favour. It was then confirmed in September that Piastri would join Lando Norris at the Woking-based squad next season. Following the controversy, Alpine boss Szafnauer said that he had "expected more loyalty" from Piastri, and suggested that there had been a lack of "integrity", something that Brown takes issue with. ...

McLaren boss Zak Brown believes that should Daniel Ricciardo be given another F1 race seat opportunity , he will be able to " rebuild " his career. Ricciardo was let go by McLaren at the end of the 2022 season following poor performances alongside Lando Norris throughout his two-year stint with the Woking squad. Unable to find a solution to alleviate Ricciardo's worries, Brown elected to sign Oscar Piastri from Alpine to hand the younger Australian a race seat once a settlement was reached with eight-time Grand Prix winner Ricciardo. The Australian was unable to secure a race seat elsewhere on the 2023 grid, and so has returned to Red Bull in a third driver role shadowing Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. However, Brown still believes that Ricciardo has something to offer in F1 - and believes he will return, citing the example of Nico Hulkenberg, who last raced in 2019. Br...

McLaren CEO Zak Brown says he was convinced of Lando Norris' potential as a Formula 1 driver from an early age. Norris was signed as a McLaren junior driver in 2017, and graduated to F1 with the Woking-based team two years later at the age of 19. The Briton has impressed at McLaren, comprehensively overshadowing teammate Daniel Ricciardo over the past two years, and coming very close to winning the 2021 Russian Grand Prix before falling foul of a late rain shower. With Norris' stock on the rise, McLaren moved swiftly earlier this year to tie the Briton down until 2025. Norris is set to take on the role of team leader at Woking in 2023, with rookie Oscar Piastri replacing Ricciardo, and Brown says the Briton's rise through the racing ranks came as little surprise. "The goal was always to get him into Formula 1 . I'm not surprise d [that's he’s made it]," Brown said in response to a question from TheFOXposts.Com . "I guess you are surp...

McLaren boss Zak Brown believes the FIA should review the super licence points system after Colton Herta failed to secure enough points to make a switch to F1 . The American was in talks with Red Bull to join the sister AlphaTauri team in 2023, but a major stumbling block proved to be getting enough superlicence points as he only has 32 points, with 40 the required standard. Herta has competed full-time in IndyCar since 2019 and contested in the Indy 500 the same number of times. By comparison, 2023 Williams driver Logan Sargeant has earned over 40 points through competing in the F3 and F2 feeder series. Brown says that the rules surrounding the superlicence should be looked at for the future, as he believes Herta is "definitely capable of being in F1." "I think the superlicense really just around IndyCar needs to be reviewed, I think it should just be the same as Formula 2," Brown said to media, including TheFOXposts.Com . "It's a shame C...

Zak Brown has doubled down on his comments made in a letter earlier this season to FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem, following Red Bull's breach of the Formula 1 cost cap. The McLaren CEO wrote a letter accusing Red Bull of 'cheating' following their minor breach of the $145 million cost cap. It later emerged that the team had breached the cost cap in four main areas, with Red Bull team boss Christian Horner refuting any claim that the team gained any advantage from the breach. When asked about whether he would still stand by the comments made prior to the information about the breach, Brown doubled down: "I stand by my letter." "I think when you break the rules, whether it's technical or financial, I think you can [have] many different ways to characterise it," he told media, including TheFOXposts.Com . "I know it's a strong word, but I don't see any difference between breaking the financial cap versus having too low...

McLaren boss Zak Brown has called for Formula 1 teams to be given more technical freedom now the series operates under a cost cap. Introduced for the 2021 campaign, teams are now limited in the amount of money they can spend in a season on car development, although there are some exceptions to it including the top three salary earners in each squad. In 2021, teams were allowed to spend $145 million, with the limit gradually being reduced year on year, with $140 million the limit in 2022 – although this was raised by 3.1% to allow for global inflation and spiking of energy costs. However, now the cap is firmly in place, McLaren's Brown would like to see the technical rulebook relaxed to give teams more "innovation." Brown calls for rule changes "If you've got a cost cap, then there should actually be some more technical freedom within the cost cap," Brown ...

Zak Brown is confident that McLaren will be able to deliver Lando Norris the equipment he needs to deliver Formula 1 race wins and championships. Norris enjoyed a strong season for McLaren in 2022 and was the only driver outside of the big three teams to score a podium finish with third at Imola. He finished seventh in the Drivers' standings in his fourth season in the championship, but it still looking to take a maiden Grand Prix victory. The British driver has been mentioned as a possible replacement for Lewis Hamilton when he retires from racing, while Red Bull driver boss Helmut Marko is known to hold a long-term interest in Norris' services. However, McLaren Executive Director Brown feels the team will be in a position soon to allow Norris to fight for wins and podiums on a more consistent basis. Brown's Norris declaration Norris signed a new long-term deal with t...

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has challenged Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff to a boxing match ahead of the inaugural F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix in November. The American added that he also wanted to arrange a race with Wolff and the Austrian’s Red Bull counterpart Christian Horner on the sidelines of the British Grand Prix weekend. "We were talking about racing Christian in Silverstone, because I used to race against Christian [in British Formula 3 in the 1990s]," Brown told Sky F1 after the Australian Grand Prix. "And I've talked to Toto about it, we'll see if he's up for it. "When we go Vegas, what's Vegas known for? Little boxing match? I'm ready!" Las Vegas has played host to several of the biggest bouts in boxing history, with the MGM Grand notably staging the 2015 'Fight of the Century' between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. Other boxers to have fought in big-money bouts in Vegas include Muhammed Ali, M...

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has suggested Daniel Ricciardo's struggles with the team pushed extensive staff restructuring "underneath the surface" last year. Red Bull reserve driver Ricciardo was dropped at the end of last season by McLaren with a year remaining on his contract in favour of rookie Oscar Piastri after lacklustre performances alongside teammate Lando Norris - despite securing victory in the 2021 Italian Grand Prix. But the Woking-based outfit has endured a difficult start to the new term, with Norris and Piastri forced to wait until Australia to secure the first points of the season after numerous issues across the opening two rounds. McLaren announced organisational changes ahead of the Albert Park weekend, with Technical Director James Key departing and the role remoulded to accommodate a new structure. Viewed by others: Analysis ...

McLaren CEO Zak Brown says several of the team's major Formula 1 infrastructure upgrades are about to be delivered. The Woking-based squad have been upgrading their wind tunnel and simulator as they seek a return to regularly contending for wins and titles, after having taken just one Grand Prix victory in 10 years, and no championships since 2008. Former Team Principal Andreas Seidl had highlighted the need to upgrade the wind tunnel at the McLaren Technology Centre shortly after taking over in 2019, as the outdated facility had led to the team using the Toyota tunnel in Cologne. "Our wind tunnel is just about ready to come online. The belt's rolling, the air is going, so it's been calibrated," Brown told media, including TheFOXposts.Com . "Our new manufacturing unit, with all-new state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment, you can walk in and you can see the buildings and a lot of other infrastructure that we were quite far behind on that we in...

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has conceded he is "in the minority" for backing the Andretti Cadillac Racing Formula 1 entry bid. The American outfit has faced stiff opposition from the sport's incumbent teams over proposals to join the grid, with its initial hope to enter under the Andretti Global banner next season rendered impossible. After a tie-in with General Motors branch Cadillac - meeting an apparent requirement set by some F1 teams in recent months - and the FIA launching a full entry process, the Michael Andretti-led outfit could join as early as 2025 if the bid is accepted. Viewed by others: Analysis F1 2023 The five prospective F1 teams and what challenges they face ...

McLaren CEO Zak Brown believes there is no reason why the squad cannot fight for the Formula 1 World Championship in 2026. Much time has passed since the Woking-based team were last in an F1 title battle, with their most recent Constructors' Championship victory happening in 1998. Their last win came via Daniel Ricciardo's P1 at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, which marked their first victory since 2012. The team have faced some difficult times in the past decade, but Brown feels that McLaren are putting the right components in place for a return to success. McLaren putting team in place "If I look at the things that we need to get back to the front, you need two great drivers – I think we have those," Brown told the F1 Nation podcast. "You need your Technology , infrastructure, being state of the art and on par with the com Pet ition – we'll have that done by the end of the year. "We've talked a lot about the wind tunn...

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has called upon prospective new teams to follow Haas' example in establishing themselves in F1. The FIA opened the entry process earlier this year with five teams understood to be up for consideration, with a maximum of two likely to be added to the 10 incumbents depending on the quality of applications received. Andretti's entry bid alongside General Motors brand Cadillac has been by far the most vocal effort since underlining its intentions 12 months ago and has faced scrutiny and opposition from those already on the grid in the time since. Teams are concerned over the loss of value should a new team join the grid, especially given the demise of numerous start-ups since the turn of the century. Viewed by others: Ferrari Ferrari explain failed attempts to sign Adrian Newey ...

McLaren boss Zak Brown admits that it was "challenging" to be judged on the decision for the team to part ways with Daniel Ricciardo . Ricciardo had endured a difficult spell with the squad since joining in 2021, and it was confirmed over the summer of 2022 that both parties had mutually agreed to end their multi-year contract early. This left the Australian without a seat on the grid for 2023, with McLaren bringing in rookie Oscar Piastri as his replacement to join Lando Norris at the team. Brown says that Ricciardo's exit from the outfit was one aspect of what proved to be a challenging 12 months overall. "It's been a very tough year," Brown said in an interview for McLaren. "And it's personal, business is personal. Specifically Daniel, who's been tremendous to work with and gave us our first win [at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix]. "We had a lot of fun together, and we had a lot of frustration together that it didn't w...

Lando Norris has firmly established himself as the 'best of the rest' driver in 2022, finishing an average of seventh position. Part of this is down to his blistering pace in qualifying, an attribute that McLaren Chief Executive Officer Zak Brown believes the Briton does not "get enough credit" for improving since his F1 debut in 2019. "[Lando is] just getting better and better," said Brown in an interview with McLaren . "He puts together some amazing qualifying laps, I don't think he probably gets enough credit for how awesome he can be when it's time to set a lap. "We'll be in Free Practice 3 and then, bang, there it comes in qualifying when he needs to do it in Q3 and [the reaction is], 'Wow, where'd that come from?' He does that often." Out of the midfield teams, Norris is second only to Fernando Alonso on Q3 appearances in 2022, with the McLaren driver on 16 to the Spaniard's 18. ...

Zak Brown believes Andreas Seidl's departure from the McLaren Formula 1 team has opened up "opportunities" within the race team. Seidl resigned from his post as Team Principal in December to take over as CEO of the Sauber group with Audi - a member of the Volkswagen group Seidl used to work for - set to come in for 2026. One of Seidl's first tasks is to search for a new Team Principal at the Alfa Romeo (Sauber) team, with Frederic Vasseur heading to Ferrari to replace Mattia Binotto. In Seidl's place, Brown opted to promote Andrea Stella to his first team principal role in F1 from the racing director role he'd held since 2019. And Brown believes that this decision is a strong one for McLaren that highlights the "depth" within the team. Viewed by others: ...