When Zak Brown joined McLaren at the end of 2016, they had just finished sixth in the standings, having failed to break the 100-point barrier. Within a decade, they were world champions again.
McLaren sunk to second from bottom in his first full season, prompting them to split with engine suppliers Honda. The reunion of the two manufacturers had been disastrous.
A switch to Renault yielded an improvement as they climbed back to P3 within three years. For 2021, McLaren turned to Mercedes, who had powered Lewis Hamilton’s 2008 triumph.
By 2023, they had re-established themselves as a frontrunner, having scored nine podiums. The platform was there to win races the following season.
But even still, nobody expected McLaren to become champions, particularly after Red Bull won four of their first five races with ease. However, their masterful – if controversial – car development pushed them ahead of the Milton Keynes outfit, who lost their way in turn.
In Abu Dhabi, McLaren sealed their first constructors’ crown since 1998. Brown, the CEO since 2018, deserved much of the credit for their turnaround.
McLaren staff were seeing ‘ghosts’ when Zak Brown first joined
Speaking on the James Allen on F1 podcast, Brown recalled his early days at Woking. Three employees came to his office to offer him a warning.
They’d seen a few colleagues in conversation, and assumed they were speaking ill of Brown. But they had no evidence to back their theory up.
It was at this point that the American realised McLaren staff were seeing ‘ghosts’. This had become a cultural problem under the previous regime.
Brown knew there would have to be reset. It took time, but now McLaren are renowned for their togetherness off-track.
“I remember three guys from the gearbox [team] came in early on,” he said. “I had an open-door policy. They came in to see me in the early days.
“These were the conspiracy theories we’d have in the early days. They came in to see me and they said ‘we’re really concerned for you’. I was like, ‘why’s that?’
“[They said] ‘I won’t name names but I saw three people talking, and it’s not good, we think it’s about you. I said ‘well, what did you hear?’
“‘Nothing, but we think, it’s about you’. But that was the ghosts that people were seeing, and the conspiracy theories on the shop floor. We got that out of the system.”
What Zak Brown said in private text message after McLaren won Formula 1 title
Guenther Steiner has called Brown the best team boss in F1 right now. It’s worth noting that the 53-year-old oversees the big picture, including McLaren’s involvement in other racing series, while team principal Andrea Stella runs things day-to-day.
Brown is a commercial specialist, though, and he’s revived the McLaren Racing brand. Last year’s car featured the logos of giant companies like Google, Dell and Mastercard.
Their recent resurgence has clearly made them more attractive to potential partners. They beat Ferrari by 14 points last season to notch their ninth constructors’ title, equalling Williams all time.
In a text conversation with racing driver Justin Bell, Brown called the Abu Dhabi GP his ‘toughest’ race. Lando Norris was leading, but the two Ferrari drivers were second and third after Oscar Piastri’s early spin – a nailbiting scenario, but one that ultimately ended in ecstatic celebrations.
