McLaren admits bragging rights over Aston Martin would be nice even if they don’t consider it the main target for 2021.
On Monday, the Woking-based team became the first to unveil their new car, the MCL35M, which is the first Mercedes-powered McLaren since the two parted ways after 2014.
McLaren though also heads into the new season with a target on their back, after finishing third in last year’s Constructors’ Championship.
But CEO Zak Brown remains more focused on moving forwards.
“The field is unbelievably close, but challenging for the championship would be unrealistic given the journey that we are on,” he said.
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“I think all we can hope for, and are striving for, is to close the gap to Mercedes, who we anticipate to be the fastest team again in 2021.
“The rules haven’t changed significantly, so I don’t think that 2021 will look much different from 2020 for the entire grid, other than expecting it to get yet even closer.
“We went into Abu Dhabi [in 2020] with the ability to finish third, fourth or fifth it’s that close, and we anticipate it being even closer this year.
“So, all we can really do is key off who is the fastest team and hope that we close the gap, but short of that it’s too competitive to give any sort of prediction.”
The rivalry with Aston Martin though will likely kick up a notch after McLaren beat them to third place in 2020 by just seven points, and now both teams share the Mercedes engine.
“We’re going to keep our eyes in all the competition, it would be naïve to underestimate any of the competition that was so close last year,” Brown asserted.
“So, our goal is to close the gap to the front, we’re not focused on a particular team or on who’s got what Power Unit.
“We want to be the best of the customer teams but the one target in mind is to close the gap to the front of the field.”