Brown warns against McLaren 'naivety' threat from F1 rivals

Zak Brown is keen for McLaren to stay vigilant against rival teams copying its climb up the F1 pecking order.

McLaren started 2023 with one of the slowest cars on the grid, but upgrades throughout the year allowed it to climb into the leading gaggle, with Oscar Piastri taking a sprint win in Qatar.

That impressive pace has continued into 2024 with the MCL38 machine widely regarded as the fastest car in the field, with Piastri and Lando Norris each scooping a maiden grand prix win in the first-half of the year as McLaren targets a first constructors' crown since 1998.

It is currently 42 points behind Red Bull, with the current cars set to be largely transfered over into the 2025 season ahead of the major aerodynamic and power unit rule revamp coming in for '26.

With this in mind, Brown feels it would be "naive" to ignore the threat of a team climbing up the order a la McLaren.

"Next year could be an epic season," Brown declared to select media including RacingNews365. 

"It is just an evolution of four teams fighting for the championship, and I think it would be naive to rule out somebody who is not in the top four right now. 

"Because we can see how quickly things have changed, with Aston Martin falling back, but they could dial it right back up.

"RB were very quick at the start of the year, so there is no reason why teams can't do what we did. 

"We did it through hard work and great people, but everyone has the same sized budget, everyone has similar technology.

"There is no reason why others can't do what we've done over the last year."

The 2026 unknowns

Brown also touched on the preparations for the rules overhaul for 2026, including how power unit partner Mercedes is handling the biggest shake-up to the power units since the turbo hybrid units were introduced in 2014.

"I am excited and nervous at the same time, because you just don't know," Brown added.

"I'm very confident on the Mercedes power unit side, so if I think about what keeps me up at night for 2026, it is just the unknown. 

"The power unit is the least of our worries, and I feel very confident where Mercedes is in its development, and of course, you don't know where anyone else is. 

"But they feel very good, so, therefore, we feel good."