McLaren CEO, Zak Brown is a passionate automotive enthusiast. The American sponsorship magnate has deservedly made a fortune for himself as part of his motorsport journey. Naturally, he uses his means to splurge on classic road and race cars. Within his bespoke collection also lies the 2012 MP4-27 driven by Lewis Hamilton.
The 2012 F1 season was Hamilton’s last year with the iconic British team. He drove the MP4-27 to four victories that year – at the Canadian GP, Hungarian GP, Italian GP, and the United States GP. In a video uploaded by Tom Hartley Jnr. on YouTube, Brown revealed that he will be behind the wheel of Lewis Hamilton’s last winning McLaren in Ferrari’s backyard.
Hamilton‘s last year with the team would also be the last time McLaren won a Grand Prix in the pre-Zak Brown era. It would be nine years later at the 2021 Italian GP that McLaren would be victorious again – this time at the hands of Daniel Ricciardo.
Brown revealed that he will take charge of the iconic MP4-27 during the 2024 Italian GP weekend. Apart from this, the American also owns Mika Hakkinen’s MP4-16 and Ayrton Senna’s 1991 MP4-6.
Brown described Senna’s third-world championship-winning car as his most prized possession. PlanetF1 quoted him last year: “I’ve had it for five years, and if I had to pick just one car from my collection, this would be it.”
Zak Brown spends $1 million a year preserving his $100 million car collection
There’s only one way to describe Brown – he’s a petrolhead at heart. Naturally, his extensive car collection also comes with a hefty price. According to estimations, the American owns a collection of exquisite automotive engineering valued at over $100,000,000.
As Brown explained to Tom, he owns about 50 cars (a combination of both road and race cars). His only rule with race cars is that they should have won. His obsession with perfection and winning also set him back around $1,000,000 a year. According to Business F1, this is the cost of upkeep for his car collection.
Brother has some really expensive hobbies
Credit: BusinessF1 pic.twitter.com/OWjjB7JgPS
— F1 Library (@dnf_fastest) July 31, 2023
These costs are majorly related to keeping the cars in race-trim. Brown often lends out or uses his cars to run at events and Grand Prix weekends. The upkeep required to keep these cars ready as “runners” for events like the Goodwood Festival of Speed is the bulk of his investment.
