“Stopwatch Is King”: McLaren & Zak Brown Given a Rude Awakening Despite Incoming Signs of F1 Disaster Turnaround

The thrilling race at the Australian Grand Prix was nothing less than a Hollywood drama, leaving the fans glued to the screens while gnawing their nails. When Max Verstappen reached the finish line, the race that had received three red flags was over. However, before that, there was a significant amount of relief in two major F1 camps, Mercedes and McLaren. Where, on the one hand, after the Brazilian Grand Prix last year, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won the podium at the Melbourne track, and on the other hand, it overjoyed the papaya army to see both of their drivers in the top 10. Nevertheless, despite this fantastic atmosphere, Zak Brown and company received a brutal wake-up call prior to the fourth round of the Formula 1 season.

Former F1 driver gives Mclaren a wake-up call

The new MCL 60 struggled to perform efficiently on the track, which caused the British team to struggle early in the campaign. In the Bahrain Grand Prix, Oscar Piastri had to retire because of electrical problems while the team’s senior driver had to stop for six teams due to a pneumatic leak. The situation deteriorated further in Saudi Arabia when both drivers had vehicle issues. As a result, they finished way behind what they had anticipated.

Yet after achieving respectable results, Lando Norris placing sixth and Piastri eighth without making any significant improvements, the team was certainly ecstatic. However, former Red Bull driver Mark Webber, who thinks “Stopwatch is King,” has now given the papaya Army a harsh wake-up call. Webber remarked recently during a podcast interview for F1 nation, “I think we should be measured again. Like we don’t know you can bring, you can bring some improvements but obviously no one else is sleeping either,” when quizzed about what he feels on the Mclaren’s big shout of the impending upgrades.

He further added, “You need to just look at the stopwatch make the most of your opportunities. I think there’s people here with some upgrades this week and actually went the wrong way. You know like it’s quite interesting. You can dine out on a bit of smoke and mirrors but ultimately the stopwatch is king.”

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Lando Norris, who was noticeably upset after qualifyings, has praised the past weekend as Mclaren’s strongest, and the driver who felt helpless before the main race now has something to say about the team’s impending upgrades.

Lando Norris divulges some secrets about Mclaren’s impending modifications

The thrilling Australian GP may live in every driver’s mind for years. The team that benefitted the most, though, was Mclaren. They improved from P10 to P5 in the standings as a result of their performance at Albert Park. In an interview following the race as per Formula1.com, Norris stated, “For sure, our best weekend so far. All my comments and my feelings [after qualifying], I didn’t have my hopes too high.”

The British-Belgian driver subsequently provided some insights on the improvement package McLaren is planning to deliver to the upcoming round in Azerbaijan at the end of this month. He said, “The season started a while ago. I kind of hate when people say it, because it’s, you know… it’s the same for everyone. We should’ve been on it earlier and we weren’t. But we have the upgrades, we have some things. I don’t want to get too excited about all of it because I wouldn’t say Baku is where it’s going to help us the most with all the slow speed corners. But at the same time it’s a step forward, I hope.”

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Mclaren appears to have returned to the track at the right moment. With plenty of time on their hands, the team will undoubtedly work on their car to make it more competitive. Having said that, do you anticipate that the papaya Army will return to action at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix?