McLaren is currently working on a new wind tunnel at its Woking headquarters after having used the Toyota factory in Cologne for years while its McLaren technology center was being modernized.
The need for a new, state-of-the-art tunnel was one of the first issues that team principal Andreas Seidl addressed when he arrived in May 2019 as he identified the next steps for McLaren to return to the front of the field.
While the coronavirus pandemic has delayed McLaren’s plans to bring its facilities up to Mercedes and Red Bull standards, CEO Brown believes the team will have caught up by the 2024 season, meaning there will be “none in the battle for the world.” Excuses ”will be championship success.
“I think it’s always dangerous to pick a time to get started. What I’m going to say is that by 2024 we will have all of our infrastructure in place, especially the wind tunnel,” Brown said.
“I think we won’t have any more excuses in the 2024 season and I would like to think that by that time the sport will be so competitive that there will be a multitude of teams fighting for the championship and I like it.” think we would be one of them. “
Andreas Seidl, Team Principal, McLaren, and Zak Brown, CEO, McLaren Racing, at the start
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
McLaren has been on a steady upward trend since 2018, climbing the designer table each season up to third place last year, which the company plans to repeat in 2021.
When asked if McLaren’s continued advances could give the team the chance to compete for victories and championships ahead of the 2024 goal, aided by the all-new 2022 regulations and F1’s cost cap, Brown preached patience and the last step to the level of Mercedes and said Red Bull will be the hardest to do.
“We finished ninth, sixth, fourth, third. And here we are third. I think it gets harder the closer you get to the front, so I don’t think it will be two, one,” he explained.
“That would be nice, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.
“While we now have the annual resources to compete on a par with everyone else, we are lagging behind on our infrastructure and even though we have let go of the investment it will just take time, especially the wind tunnel.
“Given the importance of that, we can’t make up for this lost time, we write the checks for it, but it will be a couple of years before the wind tunnel is ready.
“We have other CapEx [capital expenses] which you will see, all from our branding center, you saw that we redesigned this to be more sustainable and forward thinking and efficient … and we have other things that you will see later this year.
“But we’re really not going to catch up with our infrastructure until the car comes out in 2024. Until then we’ll be doing our best with the equipment we have, but I think until we catch up it will be difficult.” to think we could beat these guys in a head-to-head fight. “
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Brawn GP scenario difficult to repeat
The new rules for 2022 could allow a team like McLaren to create a surprise by getting its original car design right, much like Brawn GP did when it stunned the F1 paddock with its clever double diffuser in 2009. However, Brown believes that such a scenario, where a team has a massive trick up their sleeve, is less likely with the more restrictive tech regulations that are about to come into play.
“We’re going to do our best and with the new formula you never know who’s doing it right and who’s doing it wrong,” he added.
“Brawn obviously hit over their weight when they won the championship and they weren’t the most resourceful team.
“But I also think the rules are so much stricter now that it’s getting harder to get a big, clear advantage like this in today’s world.
“We’ll do our best but I think we should face the expectation that it will get tougher from now on.”
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