McLaren plans to 'irritate' the top 4 teams for the rest of the season

McLaren CEO Zak Brown feels the Woking-based outfit can irritate the top teams and pounce whenever one of them falls.

The British team looked alive in the Austrian GP, especially with the new upgrades that were fitted to Lando Norris' car. Now, in the upcoming British GP, Oscar Piastri will also get these upgrades, and the team will be on full attack.

Zak Brown recently spoke about how McLaren bounced back in the Austrian GP (via Speedcafe).

“Austria was definitely a nice step forward, Of course, no one is standing still. It’s extremely close. It was good to get the upgrades on Oscar’s car this weekend, so let’s see how we go, but it is definitely a step forward and gives us some nice momentum,” he said.

“I think Andrea and all the men and women at McLaren have done a great job improving the car. So it definitely is a step forward, a momentum builder, and I think is a nod to the work that Andrea and all the team have done to restructure and go about the development of the car. So I kind of feel like our season started in Austria,” Brown added.

Lastly, Zak Brown explained how McLaren would like to be somewhat of an 'irritant' that can disrupt top teams and try to take advantage whenever they have any issues. He believes his team is in the fight now.

“You know, the top four teams still have fantastic pace. But we’d like to be an irritant over the course of the season. I feel like we’re in the game now,” Zak concluded.

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Lando Norris admits he is struggling with McLaren in 2023

Lando Norris recently admitted that the 2023 F1 season has been the toughest for him. McLaren is unable to develop a strong car that can fight with the top teams, causing both their drivers to thrive for only a handful of points.

Norris explained how he noticed a dip in performance since he was scoring decent points and was even standing on some podiums in 2022.

He said (via PlanetF1):

“This has been my toughest season. I have been on the rise and felt that glory and the podiums, and then it drops off to the worst it has been for me. I want to win so much, but at the same time, it feels so far away. Everyone puts in the effort, and when I am not close to fighting for points, it takes a lot out of me.”

However, since the 2023 F1 Austrian GP, the British outfit has picked up some pace and shown some positive signs. Lando Norris managed to finish fourth in the race (after Carlos Sainz received time penalties for track limits).