McLaren are on course to live up to Lando Norris' expectation that the team will be able to compete for race wins by 2024, Zak Brown has suggested.
Norris is tied down to McLaren having signed a new deal at the start of last year. Regardless, the Brit has been the subject of intense speculation in recent months, particularly since it was revealed he held talks with Red Bull prior to that contract extension.
Towards the tail end of last season, Norris suggested he could look elsewhere if his current team cannot match his ambition. He said: "The wind tunnel? I hope our new one will help us for 2024 and 2025. I have to have faith that my team can do a good job. [2024] will be our first year in which we have no more excuses.
"At the moment we can still come up with good excuses. Believe me, nobody likes to say that we had the best possible weekend and that we're behind for the reasons just mentioned. We always look at what we can do better. 2024 will be the first year in which we operate with our infrastructure almost at the level of the top teams. The rest is then up to us, the people who work here."
That new wind tunnel is in the pipeline, with McLaren forced to modernise their infrastructure. Their simulators are also outdated and so they must upgrade the technology they use if they are to unlock their full engineering potential.
Looking ahead to the future, chief executive Brown is confident the team will start fully reaping the benefits of their modernisation in 2025, but that their 2024 effort will also be better off for it. "It's starting to impact our 2024 car and it will have full impact for our 2025 car," he told Speedcafe.
"It's coming online in the middle of this year, which means we've already started on our 2024 car. So I think we have everything we need for the 2025 season fully in place. We are 80% ready for the 2024 season."
The timing of those infrastructural improvements is ideal, Brown added, because of how well-placed the team is for the future with Norris, 23, and 21-year-old Oscar Piastri as their drivers. The latter may be rusty after a year away from regular racing, but has enormous potential.
"I think it fits well with Oscar becoming a rookie this year," Brown said. "I feel like everything is really going to come together in 2024 and 2025."
