McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown recalled the “worst two hours” that was their F1 2024 title-deciding clash with Ferrari in Abu Dhabi. 

And while Lando Norris held firm to take victory and thus seal a first Constructors’ crown for McLaren since 1998, the team opted not to tell him just how pivotal claiming that win was.

McLaren did not tell Lando Norris about P1 title implications

It has been quite the turnaround for McLaren, the team going from starting out as one of the slowest in 2023, to returning to the F1 summit the following year, under the leadership of Brown and team principal Andrea Stella.

While Red Bull gave reason to believe early in F1 2024 that they would cruise to a third consecutive Constructors’ title, the battle ultimately boiled down to McLaren vs Ferrari, with their tussle for the crown going all the way to the final race, where Norris sealed the deal for his team.

McLaren went into race day as overwhelming favourites, not only because Ferrari needed to outscore them by at least 21 points to win the title, but also because Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was starting down in P19, with McLaren locking out the front row.

But, with Max Verstappen sending McLaren’s Oscar Piastri into a spin at Turn 1, and Leclerc making quick progress, the pressure ramped up in a major way for McLaren, with Norris winning the race becoming a requirement for the title as Leclerc and Carlos Sainz ran in the top three.

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And when asked during the James Allen on F1 podcast how he felt by the end of the season, Brown replied: “I was pretty stressed! Abu Dhabi was the worst two hours, you know, and it shows how quickly Formula 1 can change.

“Saturday, we’re first and second. Charles is 17th/18th [sic], because he has his penalty. And then Turn 1 on Sunday, what should have been a bit of a cruise home, Charles has an unbelievable start. He’s in the top 10, two, three laps into it. Oscar’s back in the back of the pack.

“Lando was on fire, but we knew if Ferrari finished second and third, we had to win.”

However, Brown has now revealed that McLaren never told Norris this was the situation.

“We didn’t communicate that to Lando,” Brown continued. “I think we just let him do his thing. He drove a perfect race.

“But anything could have happened, you know, you’re worried about safety cars. So there was a couple battles there at the end with some wings coming off.

“So you’re just very nervous that anything can change at any time, as we’ve seen, including Abu Dhabi, you know, a few years ago. So that was on my mind when you start seeing cars tussle.

“I was looking more at our data going, ‘I hope no one’s racing each other, because they can affect our race’. So that was very stressful, but I think it made the victory all that much sweeter.”

McLaren continue into F1 2025 with the driver pairing of Norris and Piastri, with both drivers heading into the new season harbouring Drivers’ title ambitions.

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