Zak Brown believes he can keep his driver duo in 2025
The boss of McLaren praised the talent of his two drivers at McLaren, but he knows that they are also being coveted by the competition. However, Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren, insists on the financial power of his team to keep his two stars.
While 14 drivers on the grid will see their contracts end at the end of the season, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are committed to McLaren for the long term. The British driver is under contract until the end of the 2025 season, while his Australian teammate is under contract until the end of 2026.
The CEO of McLaren, Zak Brown, has previously confirmed that keeping both drivers is a high priority. But following the unveiling of McLaren’s 2024 car livery, he has now declared to Sky Sports that the British team has sufficient financial power to retain its two drivers.
According to Forbes, Norris received a salary of 5 million dollars, plus an additional bonus of 10 million dollars, for the 2023 season at McLaren. This makes him the sixth highest paid Formula 1 driver in 2023, with Max Verstappen taking the top spot after earning 70 million dollars for his record-breaking season.
Despite the fact that Norris attracts McLaren’s rivals, Zak Brown insists that the British team can afford to keep him. He is a very valuable racing driver, an excellent asset for the team.
“There is no number for which we would be interested in trading,” he said. “The resources we have now are exactly where they need to be.”
The CEO of McLaren has focused on a well-managed budget by the Woking team, as well as maximized financial resources. « We are a profitable racing team, which is great. We operate at full capacity. Resources will not prevent us from achieving everything we need to achieve, including the drivers. »
The best duo in Formula 1.
In the middle of last season, the improvements made to the MCL60 allowed McLaren to become the closest competitor to Red Bull. Lando Norris achieved a total of seven podium finishes, all of them in the last thirteen races of the season. On his part, and for his rookie season, Oscar Piastri notably won the sprint race in Qatar.
“You need the two best Formula 1 Grand Prix drivers in the world,” insisted Zak Brown about McLaren’s future. “Currently, I think we have the best duo of drivers in Formula 1,” even stated the McLaren boss.
« We have a little more room for maneuver with both, but Lando is certainly in high demand, so we would like to secure him before it’s too late. The dream is to win races and a world championship together, and I think Lando is fully committed to achieving it with us,” he said.
The two McLaren drivers reacted with excitement to their new livery before the presentation, on February 14th, of the actual car adorned in black and orange.
