Las Vegas GP: McLaren taking nothing for granted with constructors’ championship in sight
Team CEO Zak Brown says a ‘36-point lead can evaporate in one race weekend’ when Ferrari and Red Bull are in the hunt with 3 races to go
McLaren are on the verge of winning the team’s first Formula One constructors’ championship since 1998 but CEO Zak Brown said on Thursday he is keeping the champagne on ice knowing full well how quickly fortunes can change in the sport.
McLaren lead the standing with 593 points – 36 ahead of Ferrari, with defending champions Red Bull still in the running with 544 points ahead of Saturday’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.
“I feel great with where we are,” Brown said at an event promoting the British team’s partnership with Mastercard.
“But it’s high stress. A 36-point lead can evaporate in one race weekend when you’ve got Ferrari, who could easily finish first and second – which can happen in a street race, as we saw in Brazil.
“For those people who have come up to me with a foregone conclusion that we’ve already won the championship, I kind of want to punch them in the nose.”
McLaren team boss Andrea Stella said the constructors’ championship was the priority after Lando Norris finished sixth in Brazil earlier this month, putting Red Bull’s Max Verstappen on the brink of a fourth successive drivers’ crown.
