McLaren CEO Zak Brown says his team is working hard to beat Mercedes and assumes it can, but “in the long term”.
Brown gave his comments on the surprising pre-season testing pace Racing Point seems to have, with a car that some call a copy of the 2019 Mercedes.
“We look at the times of other teams, but you can don’t make much of it yet,” said Brown.
“The Racing Point is, of course, a good car, but that makes sense because it is the Mercedes of last year.
“It all depends on what your ambitions are. If you want to be at the top of midfield quickly, it is, of course, a smart way, but if you want to become champion like us, then you have to do something else.
“If you keep copying Mercedes you are lagging behind. We want to be better than Mercedes and for that, we have to keep improving ourselves.”
And McLaren is taking the necessary steps to do just that. From 2021 McLaren will be powered by a Mercedes power unit and the team thinks it will be the boost they need to take their next step toward the top of Formula 1. However, can they beat Mercedes as a Mercedes customer team?
“Not immediately in 2021 of course, but we assume that we can beat Mercedes in the long term,” explained Brown.
“We are now working so hard in the factory for that.”