McLaren chief delivers ROUSING speech after Singapore Grand Prix

McLaren

McLaren chief delivers ROUSING speech after Singapore GP

Zak Brown has been very impressed with his team's season and gathered everyone together under the lights

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Monday 18 September 2023 19:28

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has praised his team's comeback in 2023 as the team took another step closer towards a top four finish in the constructors' championship with a strong showing at the Singapore Grand Prix.

The team have had an up-and-down season so far, with just 17 points coming from the opening eight races before a further 122 coming from the next seven after a raft of updates to the car.

In Singapore, Lando Norris came just 0.812 seconds away from his first ever race win, finishing second, whilst rookie team-mate Oscar Piastri put in yet another impressive performance to bring his car home in seventh, having started 17th.

After the race, Brown praised his team for the comeback they have shown throughout 2023.

"That was an awesome race," he said in a rousing speech over on McLaren's official X channel. "Lando, Oscar, awesome drives. What a comeback, being a second off winning the race, from the start of the season when we were like a second off making Q3.

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"So congratulations all of you, massive team work, everyone back at the factory, all of you, well done!"

A message from the boss! 🧡#SingaporeGP 🇸🇬 pic.twitter.com/YwPn9Ipw5v
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) September 17, 2023

McLaren on the up

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are a dynamic young driver pairing

In Norris and Piastri, McLaren have arguably got the most envied young driver lineup on the grid and the challenge for the team is to keep them both happy at McLaren by giving them a car that can challenge for regular race wins.

In the first part of the season, Norris in particular looked a bit disillusioned at times as his car trundled around near the lower midfield, scrapping just to try and get some points.

Fast forward a few months and Norris has now picked up his third P2 finish of the season, and sits just 12 points behind Mercedes' George Russell in the world drivers' championship standings.

It's been quite the comeback story for McLaren – hence why Brown saw fit to champion the work of everyone involved in propelling the papaya racers back to contention.