After announcing that they have rejoined forces with Mercedes for the 2021 Formula 1 season and beyond, McLaren now expect to challenge the German works team, as well as any other front grid competitor going forward.
However, they don’t expect that to happen immediately, which means fans of the British outfit might have to wait a few more years in order to see their favorite team mount a serious title challenge.
When McLaren switched to Honda power in 2015, it was because of a belief that it could not fight Mercedes as a customer team. However, current McLaren F1 boss Zak Brown recently had this to say: “I’m very confident that Mercedes supplies [every team equally].”
“You can look at the telemetry, it’s clear that’s what in Mercedes Grand Prix cars is the same in the Williams and Racing Point cars. If we do a very good job with our team, execute, our drivers do a good job, then I think we can [challenge them].”
While McLaren has not won a race since 2012 and hasn’t even been on the podium since 2014, it has showed signs of bouncing back this year and currently leads the midfield (fourth in the standings) with 101 points, 33 points clear of fifth place Renault.
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Asked by Autosport if the 2021 overhaul, combined with the team’s current upward trajectory means that McLaren will be able to take the fight to Mercedes as soon as they fit their cars with shiny new engines, team principal Andreas Seidl made it very clear that won’t happen.
“No, definitely not. We need to be realistic,” he said. “The next target is to make the next step next year, hopefully we can jump in terms of performance or lap time somewhere between where we are now and the top teams.”
“From 2021 onwards the new regulations are kicking in but we need to be realistic. The three top teams are not just there because of having more money. They simply do a better job also and they will keep doing a better job. It’s important to take the next step as a team, to do a better job.”
