McLaren boss Zak Brown wants several teams to challenge for the World Championship until the last race in the 2022 F1 season.
The 2021 F1 season saw one of the best Title battles of all time go down to the wire. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen passed Lewis Hamilton on the final lap of the season finale in Abu Dhabi to win his first championship. Verstappen became the first non-Mercedes driver to win the title during the turbo-hybrid era.
Now that regulations are set to go through a massive overhaul, it opens the field for others to catch up to Red Bull and Mercedes. The teams are working nonstop on the 2022 car to get a jump on their rivals when they go out for testing next month.
These changes aim to bring cars closer to each other in terms of performance. As a result, better racing and tight battles are expected to become more frequent this year onwards.
It could also lead to one team gaining an advantage over others as Mercedes did with their power unit when the Turbo-Hybrid era started in 2014.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown believes that the 2022 season will not be dominated by one team throughout. He expects a close field and hopes to see several teams pushing for race wins.
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The 2021 season was highly entertaining, even when the focus was away from Verstappen and Hamilton. We saw Alpine’s Fernando Alonso get on the podium in Qatar and McLaren get their first 1-2 finish since 2010 in Monza.
It was also a redemption year of sorts for Ferrari. The Italian outfit managed to bag five podiums and finish 3rd after a dismal 2020 campaign.
“I’d be very surprised if next year was a boring campaign with the new cars,” said Zak Brown. “I think you’ll get some winners and losers and some surprises. I’d be surprised if there was dominance.”
“You could get a team who is maybe dominant for a small period of time. Like Brawn was when they figured out something in 2009.”
“I think with the cost cap now in place, you can feel the tension that is put on the teams who stopped developing this car in expensive of next year, etc. I’d be surprised if the field didn’t continue to get closer.” he added.
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Brown is hopeful for ‘more teams’ in the Title picture
Brown then said he wants several teams fighting for the title in 2022. Red Bull and Mercedes took their battle to the last race, but come next season. The American wants a few other teams in the picture.
“My hopes are that we go into Abu Dhabi next year with three or four cars who can compete for the championship. I think that’s the ultimate goal,” he added.
“I think this year has been spectacular. Up and down the grid. And I hope with what has been put in place and the new car designs, and the intent of the new aerodynamic package, that what we’re seeing now is just a taste of the future.”
McLaren finished 2021 in 4th place behind arch-rivals Ferrari. They looked like favourites to take P3 in the Constructors’ midway into the season but massively fell off in the latter stages.
The Scuderia, meanwhile, produced a string of good performances in the last few races to snatch the place away from the British team.
