Zak Brown has long been considered one of motorsport’s most down-to-earth and respected voices. The Los Angeles native’s career has gone from more than a decade of professional racing himself, to founding motorsports marketing agency Just Marketing International, and joining McLaren in 2016 before being named CEO of McLaren Racing less than two years later.
With McLaren joining the Formula E electric racing series beginning next season, Brown’s portfolio of racing teams expands to four in total: McLaren also competes in Formula One, IndyCar, and the Extreme E electric off-road championship. Brown joined Driving.ca for this exclusive interview during the Honda Indy Toronto to discuss where motorsport has been, where it’s headed, and what he does to unwind along the way. (Spoiler alert: he does even more racing!)
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown Photo by Stephanie Wallcraft
The Netflix series Drive to Survive has created a swell of fan interest for Formula One. Do you see other forms of racing benefiting from this increase in attention for the sport?
I was at the Formula E race in New York, and the comment that the CEO made was they’d never sold out a race so quickly. They think it’s partially because there’s so much awareness now of formula racing. Drive to Survive has not only obviously helped Formula One tremendously in America, I think IndyCar and other forms of motorsport have benefited from drafting Drive to Survive, for sure.
Do fans that are coming in from Drive to Survive know the difference between Formula One and other forms or racing, from what you’re seeing?
Some do, some don’t. Lots of people in the world of sports are fans of multiple sports, so I think if you like Formula One, you’re going to like IndyCar. If Drive to Survive made you aware and you’re flipping through the channels today and you come across this Toronto IndyCar race, you’re going to watch it. And this is some of the best racing in the world, so you’re going to become an IndyCar fan.
There’s a significant push right now from consumers, from governments, from automakers to electrify the automotive industry. Is Formula E, as a fully electric form of racing, the future of motorsport? Or are hybrid powertrains like those used in Formula One now and IndyCar beginning in 2024 the more sustainable solution?
I don’t think we know yet. The automotive industry is going electric, but (in racing) we’re now working with biofuels, renewable fuels. People are talking about hydrogen. You’ve got hybrids. I don’t think anyone knows, so I’m not going to claim I know, but I’m not convinced there’s going to be a single solution. What motorsports has always been great at is developing emerging technologies. I think motorsports will continue to evolve and will become sustainable. But what it looks like in 10, 15 years, I think it’s too hard to call.
2022 McLaren Racing IndyCar pit stop Photo by McLaren Racing
2022 McLaren Racing IndyCar, Toronto Photo by McLaren Racing
2022 McLaren Racing Jaguar Photo by McLaren Racing
2022 McLaren Racing Jaguar Photo by McLaren Racing
2022 McLaren Racing IndyCar paddock, Toronto Photo by Stephanie Wallcraft
McLaren Racing has been in the news recently for reportedly having signed IndyCar champion Alex Palou away from his current team, Chip Ganassi Racing, who then exercised an option in their contract to retain him. Knowing that the issue is far from settled, in general terms, what is it that makes a motorsports team pursue a talented driver so persistently? Is Palou really that good?
When we look for drivers, we want them to be the fastest drivers in the world at their respective discipline. We want them to be extremely enjoyable to work with inside the team, not just be fast. Good technical feedback, good teammates. We want sponsors to like our drivers, and we want fans to like our drivers. Alex ticks all those boxes, as does (current McLaren IndyCar driver) Pato O’Ward and (McLaren F1 driver) Lando Norris, et cetera. Our goal at McLaren is, whatever racing series we’re in, we want to have the best driver lineups in each one of those racing series.
How connected are you to the road car division at McLaren, and how much crossover is there in development between the two sides?
Very connected, but I don’t have any responsibility for it. The way McLaren Group is set up is you have two CEOs: myself, CEO of McLaren Racing, and then a gentleman named Michael Leiters, the CEO of McLaren Automotive. Our office front doors are (not) far apart, but I don’t have any responsibility (for Automotive). We share the same brand, so we’re extremely collaborative. We’ve had technology transfers, people transfers, knowledge and knowhow transfer. A good example started a long time ago: we were the first Formula One team to have a carbon fibre tub, and we were the first automotive company to have all of our cars be carbon fibre tubs. Now, it’s more around how we’ve optimized braking, cooling, and lightweighting, and taking that knowledge and doing something for the road car that has that same technology knowhow.
2022 McLaren Racing Jaguar Photo by McLaren Racing
What’s your daily driver?
Depends what day it is. Of course, I have some McLarens, but I’m a big car collector. My daily driver isn’t that exciting. It’s a Range Rover, which is a great car. But then I’ve got a bunch of cars from McLarens to Ferraris to old stuff, Cobras. My favourite car, to put aside McLaren for a moment, would be my Porsche 959.
You race historics as well. What’s your favourite from among your historics to take to the track, and where do you like to race?
Not often enough, but yes. That’s kind of like asking, what’s your favorite kid? The one I race most often is my Porsche 935. (I race at) Laguna Seca most often because there’s the Monterey Historics there in August and that’s during the Formula One summer shutdown, so it’s the one thing on my calendar that I know I can do that won’t be disrupted by my day job. I usually do one or two others a year, depending on what schedule comes out. Long Beach, which I also drove this year, they run a historic class every year. I did that this year (in a 1989 TWR Jaguar XJR-10). I’ve done it in the past in my Ford Mustang GTO. I understand they’re going to run Formula One cars next year, and I’ll bring out one of my old Formula One cars. If I can sprinkle in taking a coffee break in one of my race cars during a weekend I’m working, I’ll do that.
Keyword: McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown on sustainable racing, tech transfer, and his car collection