In the 2021 Formula 1 season, McLaren fought for third place in the Constructors’ championship with Scuderia Ferrari – finishing fourth, 48.5 points behind the Italian team, in the season that ended last November the English team was no longer able to challenge the Maranello team.
In fact, the Woking-based team finished in fifth place, 395 points behind Ferrari and was also overtaken by the French Alpine team. The regulation change clearly did not favor McLaren, although a fourth position would have been within reach with a more competitive driver than Daniel Ricciardo, who only scored 37 points as compared to the 122 collected by Lando Norris.
Zak Brown, managing director of the team, was not surprised by Scuderia Ferrari’s obvious step forward: “They had all the tools to produce the car which they then took to the track, starting from the wind tunnel. Let’s not forget that they had an engine problem in the past which appeared to damage them once the FIA intervened. But it doesn’t surprise me how fast they progress, they have the drivers, they have the budget and the infrastructure to compete at the top.” – Zak Brown pointed out.
The American manager drew a comparison with McLaren: “We had the budget, we had excellent driver training, even if we had difficulties with Daniel, but we don’t have the infrastructure, given that our simulator and wind tunnel will function in the near future”.
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In the interview with RacingNews365, Zak Brown said he was optimistic for the future of the team: “When we have everything available, we intend to challenge the top three teams and be with them. We are well aware that some deficits of our car derive from this delay with the technological infrastructures“.
Finally, the US manager confirmed that the new rules introduced last season helped Formula 1 make a step in the right direction: “The races were fantastic, and although the season was dominated by a team, it certainly wasn’t boring. If I think back to when Michael Schumacher dominated, the races were a continuous yawn from the start. Now the GPs are much more exciting than the results say”. – he concluded.
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