Brown is clear about the future: "McLaren can beat Mercedes."

McLaren hunting down Mercedes

Zak Brown joins the F1 TV commentary room and there McLaren's CEO discusses the situation with his team and what can be expected from them in 2020

"We look at the times of other teams, but you can don't make much of it yet. The Racing Point is, of course, a good car, but that makes sense because it is the Mercedes of last year," the American immediately tackles an interesting subject.

"It all depends on what your ambitions are. If you want to be at the top of midfield quickly, it is, of course, a smart way, but if you want to become champion like us, then you have to do something else. If you keep copying Mercedes you are lagging behind. We want to be better than Mercedes and for that, we have to keep improving ourselves."

Are Renault making progress?

From 2021 McLaren runs on Mercedes engines and therefore becomes a customer. The question is therefore whether McLaren can become champion as a customer. "Not immediately in 2021 of course, but we assume that we can beat Mercedes in the long term. We are now working so hard in the factory for that." Currently Brown still has to make do with the Renault engines, which will not bring any updates in 2020.

"Renault must speak for itself in that regard, but we are satisfied. Last year a major step was taken in terms of power, but now Renault must ensure that reliability improves. That way you get a better engine and we can perform better," concludes the American CEO of McLaren.