Brown: I hope we stay at this level for another 23 races!

      Zach Brown, executive director of McLaren Racing, is delighted with Lando Norris' victory at the Australian Grand Prix and is worried about Oscar Piastri. The Australian driver also had every chance of success, but on lap 44 he made a mistake, and it cost him dearly.

      Q: Congratulations, Lando had a great race today!..Zach Brown: He really performed incredibly well, and the team implemented perfect tactics in these difficult conditions. But I'm terribly worried about Oscar, because he had a great race too.

      When it started to rain, both were off the track at the same time, and Lando was still able to "catch" the car. Oscar found himself in a more difficult position, but then he was able to win back well and finished ninth. All in all, it was an exciting race!

      Question: It was obvious that you also had to be nervous – how difficult was it for the team to make decisions about choosing a particular tactic?Zach Brown: It was really difficult, because all the time I had to wonder if the rain would stop or not, and if it stopped, would it start again? And if it starts, how long will it take? And it was necessary to constantly react to changing conditions, but the team acted perfectly. And the most important thing is that we have built a very good racing car.

      Q: Everyone heard Oscar's conversations with the team: when he caught up with Lando, he was instructed to maintain his position and not attack his teammate. Maybe it could somehow disrupt his racing rhythm? After all, it was after that that he made a mistake and fell behind.…Zach Brown: I don't think it had any effect on him. In the end, Andrea Stella allowed Lando and Oscar to compete with each other on the pit wall. At first, we just wanted them to sort out the traffic, so we held them back for a while, although later it looked like Oscar made a mistake at some point and Lando was able to increase the lead.

      Question: In the first leg of the race, when Oscar managed to break away from Max, your riders began to build up their advantage very quickly. Apparently, McLaren is really doing great with the race pace.…Zach Brown: Yes, it looks like we showed a good pace, but this is only the first race. We'll see what happens in China, but the team started the season well, that's for sure. Last year, Max won the first seven or how many races, although he didn't manage to win for a long time afterwards. So now our task is to continue to perform the way we do today.

      Q: Yesterday you won the qualification, today you won the race. This shows that the McLaren car is fast both on one lap and on the Grand Prix course. How long do you think you will be able to stay at such a high level?Zach Brown: Hopefully for the next 23 races! (laughs) We know that we have a fast car, but we also know that in Formula 1 everything can change very quickly. Therefore, we must ensure a high rate of modernization, but this is exactly what the McLaren team has been successfully doing over the past few years.