Words from the man himself.
When Zak Brown joined McLaren Racing ahead of the 2017 Formula 1 season, the famed team was struggling, finishing next to last in the Constructors’ Championship. Seven years later, they claimed the prestigious title together. In this exclusive interview, Brown reveals how McLaren rose to the top—and why he believes the company’s automotive division is on a similar road to glory.
dR: When duPont REGISTRY’s first issue came out in 1985, McLaren was the reigning F1 World Constructors’ Champion and went on to repeat the feat. Forty years later, you’re champions again, can you get the job done again this year against Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari?
ZB: We are going to give it all we’ve got, of course. We’re coming into the season feeling confident, but not cocky. That would be a dangerous place to be in the sport. I think we’ve proven how quickly our sport can change, so for us to sit here and think others can’t achieve the same would be quite an arrogant view, so we are working extremely hard. We think we’ve made nice progress on our race car over the winter, no really big rule changes, so there’s no reason why we shouldn’t pick up where we left off. But where we left off was Ferrari was quicker than us at some tracks, they were very strong, Mercedes won four races and Red Bull won a lot of races, so I think it’s gonna be an epic season of racing again—that am I confident of!
dR: What is the priority this year, to repeat the Constructors’ title or chase the Drivers’ crown with either Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri?
ZB: All of the above, because if we can get our drivers to finish first and second in points, then I’m confident the Constructors’ title will come our way! Obviously, there’s always been a lot of chat, with what happened in the second half of last year, but we’re starting the season afresh, everyone’s on zero points. Everyone’s always treated equally, but obviously, if you find yourself like we did last year where you have a driver that is mathematically in it for the championship, and the other isn’t, then you start having those discussions. And I think that was one of the challenges we had last year, because where lots of people were suggesting what we should and shouldn’t do from their couch, the reality was that Oscar was never that far away from Lando. As I describe it, we have two number one drivers, and I guess it’s easier for some teams to just favor one driver, but that maybe costs them the F1 Constructors’ Championship, versus us who wanna treat both drivers the same, which then is great for the Constructors’ Championship.
dR: McLaren has made impressive strides in Formula 1 under your watch. What key decision or major change do you attribute to this turnaround?
ZB: People and leadership, of course, lots of great sponsors, which help fund our team and got us new wind tunnels. Ultimately, to be successful in F1, everything must come together. But it starts with people. The story I tell is that the car that we delivered in the start of 2023, which was arguably the worst on the grid, was pretty much produced by the same 900 folks that delivered us the car that won the World Championship last year. The difference was the leadership: Andrea Stella, Pete Prodromou, Rob Marshall, Neil Houldey, and Mark Temple. Of our technical director team, only one of those that I just mentioned were new. The others were put in different positions, so really what Andrea did was figure out how to get the most out of the people that we already had, and so that was all just great leadership by him. It’s amazing what the right people in the right place with the right leadership, what they can accomplish, and that’s been the single biggest difference.
dR: How has the F1 team’s performance helped rebuild McLaren’s reputation on the global stage? Has that aided your ability to attract more investment and sponsorship?
ZB: I think I’m fortunate that McLaren had the brand and reputation already, so even though, when I entered, it wasn’t living up to its brand and reputation, you know it’s kinda, when the New York Yankees aren’t winning, they’re still the New York Yankees! So, I was able to trade off of our history, if you’d like, and get good people believing on our, we call it a quest, the journey is getting like what you did to get to work today. A quest is flying to the moon, so I think winning the world championship is not a journey, it’s a quest. We got people to believe in our brand and our drivers, and then the commercial momentum started well before the championship, which has just turbocharged it, as you can imagine. That obviously elevates the brand’s prestige.
dR: How does McLaren leverage its F1 success to boost automotive sales?
ZB: It’s great for our road car business. Obviously, there’s been recent news about a new partner coming in from Abu Dhabi, which is great. I think [McLaren Automotive CEO] Michael Leiters is doing a wonderful job, but that’s a business that takes so much time to change. A race car is being developed a year in advance, whereas road cars are being developed three, four, five years ahead. I feel like Michael’s fingerprints are on the business now, so I think we’re now seeing products coming out that are Michael’s products, versus when he came in, when he kind of had what I had, which is kinda cleaning up what he’s walked into, and that takes even longer in an automotive business. I think he’s doing a great job, I think products are great and then, of course, the timing of our on-track success, you can see the energy that creates with his dealers and his customers.
dR: What’s your favorite McLaren road car, and how does it reflect the spirit of the F1 team?
ZB: To me, it’s the P1. Awesome car, ahead of its time – it had DRS! I don’t know if any other cars do now, but it had DRS in 2014. It’s a good 10 years old now, a hybrid with advanced battery technology, so I think our P1 screams of Formula 1 tech, and it sounds amazing. Love the turbo wastegate. Unbelievably fast, looks awesome, it’s just a race car for the road.
dR: What’s your long-term vision for McLaren as both a racing powerhouse and a luxury performance car brand?
ZB: I’m more of a fan of the car brand, I don’t have a responsibility for it, that’s Michael’s division, but we collaborate immensely with them, and I think we’ve got fantastic products, and we keep doing what we do and leading the way. I think our Speedtail was awesome, I think the W1 is amazing, and I believe we’re building the most awesome, technically advanced, sophisticated, high-performance sports cars. From the racing side, we’re focused on winning in Formula 1, we’re winning races in IndyCar but I’d love to win the championship, plus the Indy 500, and then if Le Mans does come knocking, we’re the only team who’s ever won the Triple Crown [Monaco GP, Indy 500 and Le Mans 24 Hours]. And then, no one in the history of motorsports, to my knowledge, has won the Formula 1 World Championship, IndyCar Series, and World Endurance Championship. Wouldn’t it be cool for McLaren, who’ve achieved a lot of firsts in this world, to not only repeat the Triple Crown, but win all three championships, which has never been done before? It requires us to be in all three series, which we’re not yet fully committed to, but, you know, if I had a dream, that’s my dream.
This article appeared in our April 2025 Issue.
Introducing the 40th Anniversary April 2025 issue of duPont REGISTRY, #479, starring the cover of our first issue. To get your hands on a copy, either buy a single issue or subscribe.