Mercedes world champions in 2024? 'Not surprised if Hamilton takes title'

Launch season is upon us: Haas F1 were the first to show their car for the 2024 season last week, with Stake F1, Williams and Alpine following in the coming days. The top teams do not present their cars for another week, all hoping to have the best car on the grid at their disposal. But can anyone beat Max Verstappen and his Red Bull Racing? McLaren CEO Zak Brown thinks so.

There was little excitement at the absolute front of the field in 2023: in almost all Grands Prix, Max Verstappen was unbeatable. Behind the Dutchman, however, it was often exciting. Zak Brown, the big boss at McLaren, said in Speedcafe.com's podcast that the entire field was often within a second of each other.

'Waiting for Newey's magic'

"The teams were amazing, so I think the sport is massively competitive, and I think once some of us catch this Max guy, Formula 1's going to be unlike anything we've seen before," the American said. At the same time, Brown knows that Red Bull Racing could stop developing the RB19 prematurely in 2023 to focus on the RB20. "So we'll just have to wait and see how much Adrian Newey magic comes out of the oven, so to speak, to see where we are."

However, Brown says that at the start of the new season, you should not rule anyone out as the absolute top team in 2024. The CEO even believes that a world title for Hamilton next season is realistic: "I wouldn't be surprised if we were sitting here (at the end of the year) and all of a sudden Mercedes was back to Lewis winning his eighth championship."