Zak Brown makes ‘weakest rival’ admission in McLaren mid-season message

Zak Brown sees an “incredible determination to succeed” within the McLaren team, which is exactly what is needed.

The McLaren Racing CEO warns that they cannot take their foot off the gas – regardless of their commanding F1 2025 position – as even the “weakest rivals” of McLaren are “really damn good”.

McLaren declare unity and drive ‘secret to our success’

As F1 2025 reaches its summer break, McLaren is in a position where the title double is almost theirs.

The Drivers’ Championship battle has evolved into a two-horse race between the McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. With 10 rounds to go, Piastri leads the way by nine points over Norris while Max Verstappen, the closest non-McLaren challenger, is 97 points off top spot.

McLaren meanwhile, is dominating the Constructors’ Championship. Ferrari, their nearest rival, is 299 points behind.

However, the message from Brown to McLaren is that the job is not yet done. He warns that considering the strength of all F1 teams these days, any dropping of the McLaren guard could prove costly.

“If I take a step back and look at the team, I can see a lot of energy, a laser-sharp focus, and an incredible determination to succeed,” said Brown in an open letter to McLaren fans.

“But crucially, we must continue striving to be the very best we can be in the ultra-competitive world of Formula 1.

“We are always looking for ways to improve. The moment you rest on your laurels, any competitive edge you have can disappear in the blink of an eye. And when we look at the competition, we must remember that even our weakest rival is really damn good. We’re talking about milliseconds. So the secret to our success is to come together and never give up.”

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc head-to-head in F1 2025

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

While both titles appear destined to head for McLaren this year, the path to the Drivers’ crown in particular will require cool heads.

Piastri and Norris have maintained an impressive level of harmony thus far, though as the rounds pass and the trophy comes closer into view, that relationship will be tested.

However, McLaren do not fear an Ayrton Senna vs Alain Prost scenario returning.

“I think there may be a natural increase of what could be a sense of pressure because the races reduce in number and every race will become, relatively, slightly more important,” said McLaren team principal Andrea Stella.

“But from the point of view of the team principal and the team, our two drivers and the team have sustained this quest to the championships in a very solid way.

“Over time, reviewing this race by race, we have created a solid racing approach, an approach to which Lando and Oscar have definitely contributed.

“It’s not like the team created this racing approach and now Lando and Oscar follow it—we have put it together as a team including drivers.

“So, I think this is a very robust framework, and this will be more and more important as the marginal value of every race increases as we get closer to the end of the season.”

He added: “If anything, the relationship between Oscar and Lando keeps improving. This is not the effect of a random evolution. This is because we invest in relationships.

“When I refer to fundamentals of Formula 1, relationships are probably slightly less tangible, but I think they are as fundamental as aerodynamics. This involves the relationship between drivers and the team and between the drivers themselves.

“If I take the race we had last year in Hungary, we spent quite a lot of time reviewing that individually with the drivers and together. We tried to learn from each other as much as possible. We reminded ourselves that Formula 1 is difficult, and we are always going to face some difficulties. This is an awareness we need to have.

“From there, what can we do to improve? What can we do as a team to make sure we have a framework that allows Lando and Oscar to pursue their aspirations, always protecting the interests of the team.

“Once again, I’m a lucky team principal because the two drivers are very reasonable, very fair, very correct, humble, and above all, they understand that we are here not only to pursue our interest in the present but also to protect the future of their own careers and of McLaren Racing.”

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