McLaren Boss Zak Brown Calls Out Lawrence Stroll Over Protest U-Turn

The Racing Point dispute is still fresh in everyone’s minds. It once again brought out the sport’s staunch supporters to discussing the fine line between loopholes and cheating. Teams, which included McLaren, demanded tougher sanctions.

Shortly after FIA opened an investigation into Racing Point’s brake ducts, there was strong retaliation from the team owner, Lawrence Stroll. In an official statement, he had expressed that there was no scope for cheating at the Silverstone-based organization. And that the accusations raised against them were completely untrue.

McLaren thought Racing Point will see out the appeal

Such was the defiance at the time that if given an option, Stroll would drag his fellow rivals to the court for complete exoneration. But the other teams like Renault and McLaren withdrew their respective appeals – based on the promise of the FIA to enforce stricter guidelines on ‘car copying’.

Soon enough, Racing Point also withdrew its own appeal against the final verdict. And it is this backtracking that has surprised McLaren boss Zak Brown.

He said, “I was surprised they withdrew. Because he was going to go through with it to clear their name of any wrongdoing. So big change, they withdrew. That was inconsistent with what he said his intentions were.”

The sanctions of a monetary fine and 15 points were consequential based on where these two teams stand. The fact that Racing Point is 4th on the Constructors’ Standings seeks to point out how important the verdict was.

All eyes on the road to re-establishing the winning culture

McLaren behind the Red Bull team in 3rd place have notched a fine season so far. For a team that was down in the dumps up until a couple years ago, they have been growing consistently.

And regardless of how Racing Point structure their car for next season, McLaren aspire to be up there fighting the big boys consistently.

Zak Brown will have put this entire Racing Point affair behind for obvious reasons. He takes pride in the fact that McLaren is a team that has its own innovation and design.

And with the introduction of the Mercedes engine next season, he will be quietly optimistic about McLaren’s chances of clinching podium finishes.