On a week of big changes at McLaren, CEO Zak Brown has given honest expectations that it could upto a decade for the British team to challenge at the front in Formula 1.
A major overhaul of the management team is underway with racing director Eric Boullier opting to resign on Tuesday after four years in the post with former Indy 500 winner Gil de Ferran taking over in a tweaked role of sporting boss.
Former Ferrari engineer Andrea Stella was also promoted to performance director and speaking candidly ahead of the British Grand Prix on Thursday, Brown admits McLaren the process of rebuilding has only just begun.
“This is going to take some time to fix,” he was quoted by PlanetF1.
“I think we are years away. I don’t know if that’s two or 10, or somewhere in between. Probably more like somewhere in between, but I don’t want to get into predictions."
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Indeed, it was the setting of incredibly high expectations when the team announced a new engine deal with Renault in 2018 that has made the subsequent performances so underwhelming, even if results have been better than recent years.
“I think we have to be very realistic and honest with ourselves, with our fans, with you [the media], to say that this is going to be a journey. I think everyone needs to recognise that," Brown added.
“I think we had a good finish in the last race relative to where we started, but we were uncompetitive.
“Not much has changed since last race, so I think everyone needs to not starting having too high expectations, ourselves included, at Silverstone, because all that has really happened is five or six days have gone by.”
