F1 has seen several iconic team owners and bosses who have changed the landscape of their respective teams. Today, Zak Brown can proudly say he is one of them, having taken McLaren from the brink of financial collapse to the cusp of becoming Constructors’ champions.
Very few in F1 understand how the business side of racing works better than Brown. The McLaren CEO, speaking on the Red Flags Podcast, drew parallels between his path to the pinnacle of motorsport with that of Guenther Steiner, one of the most unique personalities in the sport.
Steiner, who lost his job in F1 as Haas Team Principal in 2023, is a huge figure in America—largely because of his star role in Netflix’s Drive to Survive docuseries. But even before this popularity surge, he had worked Stateside, during a short stint in the NASCAR paddock (with Red Bull between 2006 and 2008).
That’s where Brown first saw him and found it strange to see someone from Italy in the series. “[He was] kind of the first Formula 1 team guy, European to kind of come into NASCAR,” said Brown.
The 53-year-old then went on to explain that Steiner was “in a weird way” his NASCAR version because Brown became the first American to take to team management in F1. Their time together in the sport did coincide as well. Steiner took the reins of Haas in 2016 and Brown was handed the keys to McLaren in 2017 after former boss Ron Dennis stepped down.
Initially, the two of them were locked into an intense battle in the midfield. But while McLaren went upwards and started rubbing shoulders with the sport’s best, Haas went downhill, leading to Steiner getting the sack.
How Brown woke the sleeping giant McLaren
When Brown assumed his role as CEO of the McLaren team, the squad was battling for mere points. But Brown understood the ethos of the modern era of racing. His background in sponsorship meant he took McLaren’s financial instability and turned it into a profitable venture.
Zak Brown is the most underrated person in Formula 1.
McLaren now has so many sponsors that they use digital panels to rotate them throughout the race and they went from having the slowest car last year to the quickest car this year.
He’s been a game-changer. pic.twitter.com/JcBUDi0ULU
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) October 10, 2024
On the sporting side of things, his shrewd appointments and a return to Mercedes power units ensured that the Woking-based team had the best possible resources to gun for a return to the top of the pile.
Today, seven years into his reign, McLaren is just one decent result away from winning its first Constructors’ title since 1998. Going into the season finale in Abu Dhabi, McLaren sits 21 points clear of its closest rival Ferrari.
