Zak Brown has admitted to being shocked by McLaren's competitive performance in the Formula One world championship this season. (Medal Table | Schedule & Results | Full Coverage)
McLaren sit just 42 points adrift of Red Bull in the Constructors' Championship, with lead driver Lando Norris also second to Max Verstappen in the standings.
The team have achieved podium finishes in their last 10 races, and they are well placed to challenge across the back half of the campaign.
Brown, however, was not expecting such success so soon.
"If I were to sit here and say I'm not surprised, that would be disingenuous," Brown told BBC Sport.
"Red Bull had such an advantage over everyone and Mercedes has been so dominant.
"I felt like we'd continue to close the gap. Did I think we would be here at the summer break, one race away from getting the lead?
"That race would have to be first and second and fastest lap, and do I think it's going to happen like that? No. But if we keep the same trajectory we've been on the last six, seven races, we'll be where we need to be by the end of the year.
"I thought we might get where we are now by 2025. I didn't think we would be where we are now in 2024. But I'm not complaining."
Both Norris and Oscar Piastri have claimed their maiden race wins this season indicative of an increasingly competitive McLaren.
Brown credits team principal Andrea Stella, who was appointed ahead of the 2023 season, for the growing success.
"He unlocked the talent that we already had here," Brown said. "We've got approximately 1,000 people here in F1. I changed three. But it was three leaders. So, 997 are the same people who gave us the [uncompetitive] car at the beginning of 2023.
"A leader's job is to get the most out of their people and that's what we didn't have previously. We weren't able to let the talent we have in here flourish.
"Andrea communicates very well. He listens very well. He's very hard-working. He's very technical. He leads by example. All the traits you would want in a great leader. He unlocked the potential this team clearly had sitting there."
While Piastri continued McLaren's podium success at the Belgian Grand Prix, Norris could not make gains in the driver standings despite Verstappen having to deal with a 10-place grid penalty.
He finished fifth, one place behind Red Bull’s reigning champion. Brown, however, sees these experiences as a learning curve for everyone.
"We've all made a variety of errors, which to me are learning experiences," he reflected.
"I thought [Mercedes team principal] Toto [Wolff] was accurate with his comment. He said: 'Well, sometimes you figure these things out once they've kind of been put on your plate.'
"So if I look at the mistakes we've made - whether those are drivers or us, kinda doesn't matter; we're one team - we wouldn't make these mistakes again. We're learning. And I think maybe because we have got where we are quicker than we thought, it shows we still have learning to do.
"Lando is trying to fight for a world championship. He's going for it. He's learning, as are we. So I'm not concerned about it."
