Full strength McLaren taking ‘brave risk’ approach to 2025

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has outlined an ambitious plan for the championship winning team's 2025 campaign in F1, promising a "brave risk" approach to car design as they target both the Drivers' and Constructors' titles next season.

McLaren closed its 2024 campaign on a high, with Lando Norris clinching victory at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, breaking the team's decades-long Constructors' title drought that had lasted since 1998.

However, despite their success, Norris was unable to challenge Max Verstappen for the Drivers' Championship, with the Red Bull ace locking in his fourth world title two rounds before the season's end.

Undeterred, Brown emphasized that McLaren is not content with its current position and is instead adopting an aggressive development strategy for its 2025 contention.

The Woking-based team is intent on setting the pace rather than matching its rivals.

“We're going into next year at full strength,” Brown told Motorsport.com

“I think we're in a different mindset now in terms of the confidence of the team and the amount of bravery that the team is prepared to take in the development in next year's car.

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“The team is not: 'let's just tweak a little here and there. The car is pretty good.' We've got some stuff on next year's car that is like 'brave risk'.

"I think you only get to the front if you try and beat everyone, as opposed to the mindset when we started this year which was like 'let's just be as good as them.'

“The mind shift is now: 'let's beat everyone'.”

Brown is well aware of the fierce competition McLaren will face in 2025. Ferrari, Mercedes, and Red Bull all secured victories in the final rounds of the 2024 season, underscoring their capabilities.

“We've got to out-develop them, out-drive them, and out-strategise them – as opposed to this mindset of, 'just don't make any mistakes.' That's just not competitive enough,” Brown said.

“Commercially, we are now super strong, and we've got two great drivers. That's a huge strength.

“But damn the competition is good. Mercedes is right there, and the Ferraris and Red Bulls too, right? Just as you kind of feel like they're starting to slide a bit, they smash it.

“So I think you have got four teams next year, and any of them could be winning both championships.”

Reflecting on the 2024 season, Brown acknowledged that McLaren's expectations at the start of the year were modest, aiming to secure a top-three finish and deliver to Norris his first career win.

With those goals surpassed, the team now aims higher.

“I think we'll be much more prepared next year because I think we came into this year thinking not in a million years are we going to be where we are,” the American admitted.

“We were almost even mentally not prepared. We weren't unprepared, but we just didn't go in with this mindset that we have right now.

“I think we'll go into next year knowing how damn hard it's going to be, but wanting to win the Drivers' and Constructors' World Championships.

“This year it was, 'let's be top three and see if we can get Lando his first win.' We've moved on from that. Now it's we've got two drivers that can compete for the World Championship, and let's go for both.”

With a "brave risk" philosophy driving its car development and a sharpened competitive edge, McLaren is gearing up to build on its 2024 triumphs and deliver a season to remember in 2025.

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