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Is Newey option for McLaren CEO Zak Brown clarifies

Is Newey an option for McLaren? CEO Zak Brown provides clarity

8 August at 07:00
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  • Nicole Mulder

Adrian Newey has been frequently linked with several Formula 1 teams following his retirement from Red Bull Racing. McLaren claimed to be satisfied with their technical team earlier this year, but was later named as one of the contenders, as was Aston Martin. However, CEO Zak Brown is adamant this time: Newey will not be coming to Woking.

Zak Brown: 'Newey not coming to McLaren'

Like all top teams, McLaren considered whether they would try to attract Newey, but Brown says he has enough confidence in his current technical team and confirms that the master designer is not coming to Woking. "We're not going to sign Adrian," the McLaren CEO told BBC.

"I'm very happy with the team. Adrian is a great friend, huge talent, resume [CV] second to none. But with what we have in place here, I couldn't be happier. We can get the job done. I'm happy with the race team we have and we're going to try to win the world championship with the team sitting here today," the 52-year-old said.

Whether McLaren will actually manage to beat Max Verstappen and Red Bull and become world champions this year, Brown dare not say yet. "It's gonna be a slug-fest. I think it's gonna be a slug-fest between all four teams [Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari]. You're gonna see epic battles. Eight drivers that can show up at almost any track and win, and it's gonna be exciting."

This article has been written in collaboration with Matt Gretton