“He’s absolutely awesome and I’m really loving working with him. And my number two did a fantastic job this weekend and helped me really pull more performance out of the car, getting into a much sweeter place.
“And I was able to attack all the corners finally. And as I said, there’s a lot of changes that I’ve had to ask for, and Fred’s been super supportive and again also moving mountains in order to make me comfortable. It’s finally starting to show in my performance. So, thank you to the team.”
Photo: Race Pictures
Meanwhile, McLaren boss Zak Brown has responded to F1’s potential move back to V8 engines by raising the possibility of the papaya team producing their own power units.
President Mohammed Ben Sulayem raised eyebrows during the Miami GP weekend when he suggested the “V8 is coming” possibly as early as 2030 and even without the full approval of F1’s power unit manufacturers. During last weekend’s Canadian GP, F1 President Stefano Domenicali then threw his support behind the idea, telling L’Equipe he is “1000 percent in favour of the V8,” before describing lighter cars and simpler engines as “the pure essence of motor racing”.
However, having won the last two Constructors’ and the 2025 Drivers’ title with Mercedes power, Brown added: “That being said, we couldn’t be happier with Mercedes [High Performance Powertrains], so yeah, if something is presented to us that first financially makes sense, then we’ll have a look at it.”
The American has also dismissed concerns that the current debate around F1’s 2026 generation of rules will at all dampen the sport’s popularity, telling SBJ: “No, because – so the racing is great, like if you didn’t hear the drivers and were just watching on TV, the TV product is great. There’s passing, five different leaders in Miami, passes for the lead, so I think the fans watching the race are going, ’That’s a damn exciting race.’
“What happened is with any new technology. We already saw it in Miami. We’ve seen the drivers are getting, A, more used it to and, B, the rules are getting more refined. We’ll get them maybe not to a perfect place, but there’s always been rule management, tyre management [and] now you have battery management.
Photo: Race Pictures