McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris celebrate a win with McLaren CEO Zak Brown at the … [+]
Formula 1 via Getty Images
Zak Brown is a man who keeps his word. He once told Formula 1 star Daniel Riccardo that if he brings McLaren F1 back to the top of the podium, he’ll have a shoey – an Australian tradition where someone has a drink out of their shoe.
So Riccardo, determined as always to win a race for the first time since 2018, took off his shoe on the podium after a dominating performance in Monza. The orange and blue McLaren cars took first and second places, with Lando Norris crossing the finish line right behind the Australian.
Brown poured some champagne into Riccardo’s sweaty shoe and proceeded to chug it, a sign that the American CEO of McLaren F1 has just brought home a win for the British team. The triumph was McLaren’s first since the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix with Jenson Button.
“It starts with everyone having fun,” Brown said ahead of the US Grand Prix in Austin in late October. “When you’re having fun, you usually work harder. We are in a business that works on Sundays and travels the world. Every team is about culture. I created a fun environment.
“My job was to put the right people in the right place, point them in the right direction, and give them the right resources to do their job. Then I step back and let everyone do their job that they do so well without getting in their way. “
Fun is basically Brown’s middle name. No matter where he goes and no matter what the situation, he always smiles.
Brown’s mentality is very different from that of others who lead Formula 1 teams. The intensity, well documented in the Netflix series Drive to Survive, shows how stressful and pressured it is to be the person running a business.
But that’s because Brown brings his own unique perspective to Formula One. The Los Angeles native is not only one of just a handful of American executives in the paddock, but also a former racing driver himself.
Brown competed in karting in the 1980s before moving to Europe where he competed in open wheel cars. It also caused a sensation in the Indy Lights – the development series for the NTT IndyCar Series – and in a German Formula 3 division. In 1997 Brown started at the Rolex 24 in Daytona and finished second in the GT2 class in a Porsche.
In 2010, Brown took part in the Spa 24 Hours with United Autosports – a team he founded with British driver Richard Dean. He continued to drive at major events until 2013, including the British GT Championship with the team he co-founded.
“I think once you’ve driven you know how good looks and how bad looks,” said Brown. “A racing driver is the team’s quarterback and you can see how the games play out.
“A good racing driver knows how to build a team around himself, how to motivate a team, is a good communicator, a good listener, a good leader and also a good follower. A good racing driver knows when to give instructions and when to take instructions. The racing business has many relevant areas into which one can incorporate a management style. “
In 2016, Brown became Executive Director of the McLaren Technology Group. Within two years he was promoted to CEO of the historic Formula 1 team.
Brown’s years as director of Just Marketing International, a well-known motorsport marketing company, put his name on the radar for many in motorsport. But no matter what Brown did before joining the British Formula 1 team, nothing prepared him for the challenge ahead.
When Brown took over McLaren, the team ran into the second half of the field. His days of winning races and fighting for championships seemed long gone. Now they are on their way back to the top thanks to Brown, Riccardo and Norris.
“I’m very proud of the work all the men and women do at McLaren,” said Brown. “It’s been quite a long way since we started our journey to get back to the front lines. I think we’re about halfway through this trip.
“There were some key moments like our first Pole in a decade, our first win in a decade, our first one-two in 11 or 12 years and everyone worked so hard. When we started this journey, we were in a very difficult place. It’s nice to celebrate with the team from time to time, but the celebrations are short-lived because you get back to work quickly. “
McLaren is currently third in the constructors’ championship with 254 points, just ahead of Ferrari. Third place would match the team’s 2020 ranking, but they have already surpassed last year’s 202 points.
Since taking the lead, Brown has led the team from sixth place overall and methodically creates a competitive program. An important part of the increase in performance is the return to Mercedes engines, which were adopted as the team’s powerhouse after a two-year deal with Renault.
“It strengthens our hard work and it’s so rewarding to have those wins along the way,” said Brown. “It’s a very difficult and competitive sport. You want everyone on the team to feel that they are contributing to our success. It is very emotionally enriching for everyone. “
In addition to Formula 1, McLaren is expanding into various motor sports.
The team partnered with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports full-time in the NTT IndyCar Series last year. McLaren now owns 75% of the team, with Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist driving the team’s two cars.
In addition, McLaren will join Extreme E in 2022 – an all-electric series that will sail over the cargo ship St. Helena – with Tanner Foust already announced as one of the team’s two drivers. The team will announce Foust’s female counterpart this Wednesday.
When Brown and the top McLaren people started discussing options outside of Formula 1, they devised a filtering process to determine the most efficient series.
“It has to fit our brand,” said Brown. “We are a racing company and we drive in motorsport, so IndyCar and Extreme E are in line with our brand values. Every racing series has to stand economically on its own two feet. All racing must support our Formula 1 efforts. An example of this is why we are at IndyCar and how that helps us in Formula 1.
“It gives us a greater presence in North America, which is very important for our fans and our corporate partners. It’s a competitive and commercial difference. If you look at Darktrace, BAT, Tezos and Arrow, they are corporate partners who are on both our IndyCar and Formula 1 teams. This is a real competitive advantage that helps our Formula 1 team. “
Brown added that the teams outside of Formula 1 cannot distract this group’s efforts. That is why it is so important for him to take a step back and let the dedicated employees of each team take on the upcoming tasks for the individual McLaren team.
Brown said, “This can’t be a distraction. Every racing team has dedicated people. We can share technology, but we don’t want one racing series to distract another because it’s very competitive and very difficult. If you’re not 100% we don’t want IndyCar to distract Formula 1 and we don’t want Formula 1 to distract IndyCar because then you have a sub-optimal racing team.
“Do we think we can ultimately win? We need to think confidently and make an effort commensurate with mastery. Those are the criteria that we look at, and if either of them is a “no,” then we don’t. It must all be a yes. “
In the future, Brown ruled out participating in any of Nascar’s national series in the future. But he said IMSA, which Nascar owns, was something he would consider.
“If we go for sports cars, that will definitely be taken into account,” said Brown. “I think the IMSA series is a great series. IndyCar achieves a lot for what we are looking for in North America. I think IMSA would really boil down to, ‘Do we feel that the extra horsepower in North America is an addition to IndyCar and is it necessary?’ The racing series that we love and that fits our brand. I would like to do Daytona and Sebring. “
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