Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have helped McLaren make a fast start to the 2025 Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship but CEO Zak Brown is prepared if a change is needed
McLaren are in good shape in the early stages of the 2025 season, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri already securing race wins. The team remain well set for a number of years, according to CEO Zak Brown, but he suggested he still has the phone number of Carlos Sainz “just in case” he wants to bring him back.
Norris finished a close second behind Max Verstappen in the 2024 Drivers’ Championship and began the current campaign with a win in Australia. Team-mate Piastri has won three of the four races since, though, and now tops the drivers’ standings ahead of Norris and Max Verstappen.
Sainz finished fifth overall in 2024, winning in Australia and Mexico, but lost his Ferrari seat as the Italian team welcomed Lewis Hamilton. He joined Williams for the current campaign, with an eighth-place finish in Saudi Arabia accounting for four of his five points.
“If we had a free spot, of course, we would consider Carlos, but right now we have Lando and Oscar under contract for several years,” Brown told Marca (via RacingNews365) “But if for some reason, the situation changes and Carlos is available… I have his phone number in my address book.”
Sainz drove for McLaren in the 2019 and 2020 seasons, claiming podium finishes in both campaigns. And Brown still has fond memories of the Spaniard’s time with the team.
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“It’s not as simple as that, there are a lot of dynamics around it that play into it,” Brown added when asked if he would have replaced Sainz with Hamilton had he been in Ferrari chief Fred Vasseur’s shoes. “Lewis is a seven-time champion, and there aren’t many times when you get to have a sportsman like that in your team.
“But at the same time, Carlos was incredible with us, is a good friend, and a great driver. Luckily, I wasn’t in a position to have to make that decision.”
Despite the low points tally, which has been eclipsed by team-mate Alex Albon, Sainz’s arrival has been hailed by Williams team principal James Vowles. “I think we are getting more than I paid for,” Vowles said in April.
“The reason why I say that is because there’s two different ways to assess performance. Number one is obviously what you see in the car driving around, and in that regard, he’s making steps forward. I’m very comfortable that he will be on the pace shortly, but it takes time to acclimatise. We have quite a different car to the Ferrari.
“But the second element where I’ve been very impressed with what he’s doing with working with our aerodynamics team, with our race engineering team, pretty much everyone throughout our organization, finding those last milliseconds. That’s the reason why I wanted him as part of this team and he’s delivering absolutely above my expectations.”
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