Formula 1 racing takes an unpredictable turn as McLaren boss Zak Brown enjoys ‘best season’

LEBANON, Tenn. — After a thrilling Azerbaijan Grand Prix, it appears nearly half of drivers are capable of winning Formula One races.

McLaren chief executive Zak Brown, whose driver Lando Norris is Max Verstappen’s closest title rival, says he is enjoying the best spectacle he has seen in his eight-year Formula 1 career.

There have been six different winners in the last eight races, representing four different teams. Verstappen, whose dominance in 2022 and 2023 broke records, still leads the standings, but his last victory came in June.

“I think this is the best Formula One season I can think of since I’ve been here,” Brown told The Associated Press during the IndyCar season finale at Nashville Superspeedway in Tennessee.

Could it be even better than the 2021 battle between Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, which came down to the final lap of the year and helped fuel the F1 Netflix boom? Brown thinks it could be.

“It was mega exciting, but it’s just two guys, two good guys. Now you’ve got four good teams in the race today,” he said.

“With four teams that can win every weekend, and (Sergio) Perez clearly back on form today, eight drivers going to Singapore and saying, ‘I don’t know which of these four teams is going to win. I don’t know which of these eight drivers is going to win’, I don’t remember Formula One having that level of competitiveness.”

There was no shortage of action on Sunday.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri won in Baku, but only after a daring pass on Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Perez was in contention for Red Bull until he collided with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr., handing third place to Mercedes driver George Russell.

Further back, Norris fought his way up from 15th on the grid to fourth ahead of Verstappen, once again reducing the champion’s lead in the overall standings.

Team results vary from week to week depending on factory improvements, track conditions and set-up changes such as the one Verstappen says ruined his weekend in Azerbaijan.

Russell said Sunday that even a tire change can turn a losing driver into a contender for victory.

“Just in that one race we had a car that could have won if we took the pace from the middle of the race and a car that should have been outside the top 10 from the second half,” he said, adding: “So hopefully we have a faster version” for next week’s race in Singapore.

The Singapore street circuit hosted one of the most competitive races of the 2023 season, with Red Bull dominating. With worn tyres, Sainz overtook the McLaren of Norris and the two Mercedes of seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton and Russell, who crashed from third place on the final lap.

Piastri is an in-form F1 driver who has scored the most points in the last seven races. He knows how many moving parts are involved in this year’s success and how quickly things can change.

“We had a chance everywhere and I think today was definitely one of those days where we weren’t necessarily the fastest but we had a car that could give us a fighting chance,” said the Australian.

“We had a pit stop that could have put us in the fight. We had some teamwork that put us in the fight. And it all paid off.”

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Ellingworth reported from Düsseldorf, Germany.