McLaren has missed targets - CEO Brown in open confession

McLaren

McLaren has missed targets - CEO Brown in open confession

Will the team be off the pace at the first race?

Ewan Gale

Friday 24 February 2023 15:17 Updated: 17:43

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McLaren CEO Zak Brown has conceded the team has missed its targets ahead of the new season.

The Woking-based outfit enters the new campaign having slumped to fifth in F1's constructors' standings last year, behind Alpine.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have endured an inauspicious start to the pre-season test in Bahrain, failing to impress with outright lap times whilst struggling with minor issues that have delayed running.

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One such problem has seen a temporary fix being made to the cake tin and wheel brows due to apparent weakness in the structure.

Speaking during lunch on the second day at the Bahrain International Circuit, Brown gave an honest assessment of McLaren's position.

McLaren cautious on Bahrain chances

“We know we set some goals for development, which we didn't hit," said Brown.

"We felt it was better to be honest about that.

"Like everyone, have a lot of development coming, so we are encouraged at what we see around the corner, but I think we will be going into the first race off of our projected targets.

"Hard to really know where that means we’ll all be on the grid.”