McLaren's CEO cracks a joke about their past struggles, and it's pure gold!
At the much-anticipated launch of McLaren's brand-new Formula 1 car, the MCL40, the team's CEO, Zak Brown, couldn't resist a bit of good-natured ribbing. He playfully poked fun at McLaren's 2017 F1 car, the MCL32, drawing chuckles from drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, as well as team principal Andrea Stella.
This lighthearted jab comes at a time when McLaren is experiencing a significant resurgence. Both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are gearing up to defend McLaren's constructors' championship title this year, a title they also clinched in 2024. This remarkable achievement stands in stark contrast to the team's position just a decade ago, a period that served as the inspiration for Brown's witty remark.
Lando Norris, who was promoted to a full-time race seat in 2019, had three years of Formula 1 experience before the sport reintroduced ground effects in its car designs. Now that this era has concluded, Norris was asked about his impressions of the new F1 cars, following a major overhaul of the championship's power unit and chassis regulations. He was curious if they reminded him of the cars he raced when he first transitioned from Formula 2.
"It certainly feels different to all the ones that I've raced," Norris shared at the MCL40 launch event, where he'll be defending his F1 drivers' title. "So it's definitely more pre 2017-18. So not really like I've driven, but more like... almost like F2 in some ways — in terms of more power, a bit more undergripped, which is it to make it more of a challenge behind the wheel, which is exciting."
He continued, "You know, it's our job to drive whatever we get given at the end of the day." Just as he finished his thought, his boss chimed in with the punchline.
"I sure hope it's not like our 2017 car," Brown quipped, eliciting a wave of laughter from Norris, Piastri, and Stella. It's worth noting that Zak Brown joined McLaren as CEO the year after that particularly challenging 2017 season, having initially joined the team in 2016 as the Executive Director of McLaren Technology.
But here's where it gets really interesting... While the team's recent low point was 2015, when they managed to score a mere 27 points all season, the 30 points they accumulated in 2017 resulted in the same disappointing ninth-place finish in the constructors' standings. This was, in fact, McLaren's worst performance in the standings since 1980!
Norris, quick to reassure everyone, responded, "It definitely won't be." He then added with enthusiasm, "Yeah, it's exciting. We know we're in a better place than we've ever been, and [I'm] excited to see what the team have put together, for sure."
What do you think? Is it always a good idea for team leaders to joke about past failures, or could it be seen as a sign of disrespect to the hard work that went into those cars? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
