McLaren fought in secret to survive: "It was pretty serious"

McLaren seems to be doing better and better in recent seasons. As recently as 2021, the team won at Monza with Daniel Ricciardo and was on the podium several times with Lando Norris. Yet the reality was sometimes worse than thought.

McLaren is well on its way. Last season the team narrowly lost third place in the Constructors' Championship to Ferrari, but in recent years there has been a clear upward trend. With the new regulations from next season, the team has the chance to move even higher at the top.

In 2020, however, things looked considerably worse for the team. The McLaren Group was in financial difficulties, but thanks to an investment from MSP, McLaren is now in as good a position as Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing.

Situation was serious

It was known that McLaren was struggling, but the team kept quiet about the potential consequences of the problems. The results made it seem like everything was going to be okay. "Ultimately, we were fighting for survival", CEO Zak Brown tells The Race. "Without MSP’s investment, we might not be sitting here. It was pretty serious."

Now the team has a lot of energy to continue working on the plan to become world champions again. In the past, McLaren was very successful. "It has made the team stronger. We are now fiscally one of the big four [along with Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull]", says Brown.