McLaren remains cautious as championship nears

McLaren is on the brink of clinching their first Formula 1 Constructors' Championship since 1998, but CEO Zak Brown is tempering any early celebrations. With the ever-unpredictable nature of the sport, Brown is wary of how quickly fortunes can change.

McLaren currently leads the standings with 593 points, maintaining a 36-point advantage over Ferrari. Defending champions Red Bull are still in contention, sitting at 544 points, as teams gear up for Saturday's Las Vegas Grand Prix.

"I feel great with where we are," Brown said during an event promoting the British team's partnership with Mastercard. "But it's high stress. A 36-point lead can evaporate in one race weekend when you've got Ferrari, who could easily finish first and second, which can happen in a street race as we saw in Brazil."

Brown emphasized his caution, noting, "For those people who have come up to me with a foregone conclusion that we've already won the championship, I kind of want to punch them in the nose."

McLaren team boss Andrea Stella echoed this sentiment, stressing the importance of maintaining their focus on the constructors' championship. This comes after Lando Norris's sixth-place finish in Brazil, which positioned Red Bull's Max Verstappen on the brink of a fourth successive drivers' title.

With two races remaining after Las Vegas, the battle for the constructors' championship could extend to the season's final race in Abu Dhabi this December.

Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur downplayed the significance of recent results, acknowledging the tight competition throughout the season. "It's not a matter of momentum this season," he told reporters after Thursday's first practice. "If you have a look, I think Red Bull were dominating the first three or four races at the beginning of the season. Then we had a good sequence and then it was Mercedes during the summertime and then it was McLaren again and us again. It's so tight that it's moving from one weekend to another."

Brown emphasized the importance of consistency for McLaren to secure the championship. "A lot of people have asked what we are doing differently now," he said. "We don't want to do anything differently. We want to do exactly what got us to where we are. Take it one session at a time, feet on the ground.

"The minute you think you've done it before you're in the end zone is a big mistake to make. So I feel good about where we are but we're very focused and we're not going to celebrate until hopefully, we've earned the right to celebrate."

As the season draws to a close, all eyes will be on McLaren to see if they can hold their nerve and bring home the long-awaited championship title.

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