McLaren CEO Zak Brown has identified "2022 and beyond" to properly start challenging Formula 1's top three teams.
The Woking-based outfit enjoyed a massive jump forward this season, finishing fourth in the Constructors' standings and scoring a first podium since 2014 in Brazil.
However, the American thinks any aspirations of ending the stranglehold of Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull at the front of the grid will have to wait until the new 2021 regulations, particularly the budget cap, have an effect.
“The top teams will have to cut back their annual budgets and staff, which will be difficult for them,” the McLaren boss told Auto Motor und Sport. “We believe in our chances from 2022 and beyond.
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“We’ve built momentum in the factory and on the race track with hard work and good decisions. Now our biggest opponent is the time, we have to grow and work together for a long time.
“Then we will automatically get better but we will also have bad days and bad weekends, that’s normal in this process,” Brown concluded.
Another key change for McLaren will come when they return to Mercedes engines for 2021 but it is that potential which reportedly has Daniel Ricciardo and even Sebastian Vettel making contact.
At this point, however, the CEO appears more than comfortable to continue with their current pairing of Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris.
“We are convinced that both have the potential to become world champions. We want to achieve that with them," he stated.
