McLaren CEO Zak Brown has revealed that he will be taking the iconic 1987 Williams FW11B Formula 1 car, originally driven by Nigel Mansell, out on the Silverstone Circuit during the 2025 British Grand Prix weekend.
During a guided tour of his jaw-dropping car collection and interview with ESPN F1, Brown discussed the event while standing next to the historic car:
“I’ll take this out at the British Grand Prix this year, which I think the fans are gonna absolutely love. I’m gonna personally take it out. So, I’m gonna drive this next week in Spain as I’ve never driven it.
“We’ve just had it fully restored here, it’s been shaken down, it’s ready to go. And I think the fans are going to love this around the British Grand Prix, but might be a bit confused why the McLaren guy’s in a Williams.”
Speaking about the car specifically, Brown explained:
“So you’ll see a bit of a theme. I’m a huge Formula 1 and IndyCar fan. So, of course, Emerson Fittipaldi – Formula 1 and IndyCar Champion. Mario [Andretti] – Formula 1 and IndyCar Champion. And, of course, as was Nigel Mansell.
“This is the car… 1987, he won a lot of races. He said this was his favourite car to drive.
Nigel Mansell, Williams FW11B Honda
Photo by: Motorsport Images
“I’ve become good friends with Nigel, and he spends a lot of time with Lando. This was, if you remember the very famous British Grand Prix where he was leading, had a tyre puncture, and then he went out and he broke the track record. I think it was 17 laps in a row and did that famous move at the end of the straight on Nelson Piquet to win the British Grand Prix. So, that’s this one.
“That was this exact chassis.”
Explaining how he came to add the Williams FW11 to his extensive collection, Brown added:
“I got this when I did a sponsorship deal for Williams. [They said] ‘What can we ever do for you,’ I was like ‘you can sell me a car!’
“‘Can’t give me a car because that wouldn’t be right. But right, you’re going to sell me one.’ And they were like, ‘which one do you want?’ and I’m like ‘that one.'”
The British Grand Prix weekend often features a demonstration run with historic F1 cars. During last year’s F1 weekend at Silverstone, former champion Jenson Button took the FW22 out on track in front of the crowd.
