Zak Brown summons F1 team to McLaren HQ as 2026 crisis addressed

McLaren

Zak Brown summons F1 team to McLaren HQ as 2026 crisis addressed

From reigning champions to a double DNS...2026 hasn't been McLaren's year

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Sunday 22 March 2026 14:56

Zak Brown's rallying cry reverberated throughout Woking as the McLaren F1 team assembled at their HQ to assess recent disappointments.

The reigning champions haven't stood on the podium once in 2026; but their pace was not their main concern at the Chinese Grand Prix last time out.

Lando Norris didn't even make it out onto the grid, while Oscar Piastri was wheeled away into the pits and neither driver started the race, electrical issues in the Mercedes power unit cited as the reason for their double DNS.

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The team have only scored 18 points in the opening two rounds, already 80 behind championship leaders Mercedes in the constructors' standings, not to mention the fact Piastri is yet to complete a single grand prix lap in 2026.

However, McLaren CEO Brown refuses to act downtrodden and assembled his team at their Woking base to address the crisis and reaffirm that the team will win again.

Brown: 'Let's get on with it'

Speaking in a video that McLaren posted to their social media, Brown declared: "We’ve got the two best drivers in the world, we’ve got the best racing team in the world, we’ve got the best culture in a racing team, so let’s just get on with it, go to Japan, race these cars – we’ll all continue to do what we do."

"I’m looking forward to when we win races. I guarantee you when we win our next race, which will be sooner rather than later, we’re not going to be thinking about speed traces or batteries or anything, we’re going to be, ‘We’re winning Grand Prix races’."

Piastri also refused to wallow in self pity, recently taking to his own social media account to post a dump, which he captioned: "Two weeks of watching F1."

When is the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix?

The third round and next race of the 2026 F1 season takes place at the Suzuka Circuit for the Japanese Grand Prix, between Friday March 27 and Sunday March 29.

Lights out for the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix are at 14:00 local time (JST) and 06:00 GMT.

F1 McLaren Lando Norris Oscar Piastri Zak Brown