Why Zak Brown thinks McLaren can score some undeserved race wins during 2025 Formula 1 season

McLaren achieved their first constructors’ title in 26 years in 2024 in what has been a meteoric rise for the Woking-based outfit.

Things looked a lot different for McLaren at the start of 2023 as they had arguably the slowest package on the grid. But at the midway point of the season, a new upgrade propelled the team to the front as they could suddenly challenge for podiums consistently.

After Red Bull and Max Verstappen won seven of the opening 10 races in 2024, many expected the seemingly unstoppable duo to continue their dominance from the previous year. However, after Lando Norris claimed his maiden F1 win at the Miami Grand Prix, it was clear that McLaren had become serious competitors.

During the European leg of the season, Red Bull suffered a drop in performance as the likes of McLaren and Ferrari caught up. As the Milton Keynes-based outfit fell behind in the Constructors’ Championship, McLaren grabbed five wins across the year to secure their first title since 1998 over Ferrari.

Norris grabbed three wins and eight pole positions in 2024 as he became Verstappen’s closest rival in the Drivers’ Championship – ultimately losing the title by 63 points. Jolyon Palmer had Norris as the biggest surprise of 2024 as he showed he can fight for the title.

But despite the success the team enjoyed on track in 2024, many could argue that this year was a missed opportunity for McLaren to beat Verstappen for the drivers’ title.

Zak Brown says McLaren can outsmart their rivals for possible underserved wins in 2025

The Woking-based outfit had the fastest car on the grid for much of the season and while Verstappen had built a considerable gap to the rest of the field after the opening races, it could be said that McLaren did not take full advantage of their strength on track.

Several poor strategy calls with pit stops and team orders proved costly in their bid for the drivers’ title – most notably at Budapest, where McLaren allowed race leader Oscar Piastri to be undercut by Norris at the final pit stops and subsequently forced the latter to give the lead back to the former.

Norris and Piastri made too many mistakes to show their car’s real pace according to Rudy van Buren, who claims that Verstappen would have won his 2024 title in ‘more comfort’ had he been driving the MCL38.

READ MORE: All you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine

But despite their costly errors hampering their drivers’ title hunt, CEO Zak Brown thinks McLaren are a ‘better team’ by making those mistakes and they will be able to outsmart their rivals when they take wins they may not have deserved to come next year.

Brown said via Sky Sports F1: “I think we’re a better team today because of those experiences, that will win us more races in the future, maybe some races that maybe we didn’t deserve to win in the future that we won because we outsmarted the competition or they made a mistake that we capitalised on.

“So, I view life as a bunch of little mistakes that you’re constantly learning from. I always say in the factory, mistakes are ok, just don’t make the same one twice.”

Can McLaren beat Max Verstappen in 2025?

After his dominant win at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Norris is being tipped as the favourite to claim the 2025 title.

Martin Brundle thinks Norris can win his first title in 2025 after the Brit proclaimed that next season will be ‘his year’, and he will be well prepared having learned how to fight Verstappen on the track in 2024.

Brown has told Norris and Piastri to race Verstappen differently next season after their incidents with the Red Bull driver this year, but the Dutchman will not be the only one the former has to worry about.

As shown in 2024, Piastri is not afraid of battling his teammate on track and with everything set back to zero, the Aussie will be eager to stamp his authority over Norris.