McLaren’s Famed Boss Ron Dennis’ Visionary Mindset Applauded as Zak Brown Deals With Its Deteriorating F1 Situation

McLaren was in a downward spiral since sealing the 3rd place in the constructors’ standings in 2020. In 2021, they slipped one place down and another in 2022. However, they never would have predicted the catastrophe they find themselves in. At least when a visionary leader like Ron Dennis was at the helm, never would he have thought that his team will one day be one of the bottom players.

Ron Dennis ate, breathed, and lived racing. It wasn’t just running the team McLaren, he also had an eye for scouting young talent. One of the biggest success stories of his spottings is none other than Lewis Hamilton. The Briton was just in his karting days when his dad, Anthony, received a call from Dennis offering to fund his son’s career. Lewis didn’t even know how to react when his dad told him about the call and simply went into his room to do his homework.

The visionary mindset that puts Ron Dennis above Frank Williams

Frank Williams, the founder of Williams Racing, was one of the stalwarts of F1 racing. A racer in his own time, all he cared about was racing cars on the track, even after retiring and minding the Williams team. Ron was different. He loved racing, and he had a vision for building a system around it.

In a recent episode of the F1: Beyond The Grid podcast, former Williams and McLaren Senior Director Sam Michael said, “Ron took McLaren, could see Honda, could see the investment from Middle-East, built a new McLaren factory, built a road car, built McLaren electronics. It’s not that Frank wouldn’t see value in that, he wasn’t interested. All he cared about was racing cars. Ron cares about racing cars but he also realized, ‘I can do all these other things and it’s going to help racing cars as well’.”

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Dennis, to this day, remains one of the most revered figures in McLaren. The team is currently going through one of its toughest times. Last year it struggled to adapt to the ground-effect regulations. In 2023, it is plagued with multiple issues, including the lack of race pace.

Will Zak Brown’s latest comment drive Lando Norris out of McLaren?

Despite McLaren struggling with a number of issues, Lando Norris renewed his contract with the team last year. The current deal sees him stay with the Woking squad until the end of the 2025 season. Before that and many times after, the team has reiterated that he is the driver their plans revolve around. However, that seems to have changed after Oscar Piastri’s arrival.

Motorsport.com recently quoted Brown as saying, “We’re very impressed with him. He’s very focused. He’s not really made any big mistakes. [Just the] typical exploring of the limits, so the odd lock of a wheel here and there.”

Zak Brown added, “He’s not been to all these [circuits used so far in 2023] so early indications are we’ve got a future world champion on our hands.”

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Norris took some damage to his car during a first-lap incident in Miami GP. Oscar encountered brake-by-wire issues that hampered his progress during the race as well. Resultantly, they finished P17 (Norris) and P19 (Piastri). Do you think the two McLaren drivers can finish in the points positions in Monaco?