'It was a mess' - Zak Brown reveals how McLaren turned its F1 fortunes around
The Race F1 Podcast
The Race Media Ltd
4.5 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 10 May 2026
⏱️ 34 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
We have something a bit different for you as we settle into the gap between the Miami and Canadian Grands Prix. In Miami The Race recorded the first of its new 'In conversation with...' interview series as part of The Race Business, and our first guest was none other than McLaren CEO Zak Brown.
In the conversation with Darren Cox from The Race Business, Zak looked back over his career prior to heading up the current world champion team, and explained how close he came to accepting a job offer from F1 itself just before McLaren came calling.
It's a fascinating discussion where you'll hear Zak discuss his journey before and during his time in F1 in great detail, and it will give you an insight into the way he operates at McLaren, and how he has helped turn around a team that even he admits was "a mess" when he got there.
Look for 'The Race Business' on YouTube if you'd like to check out more conversations like this one with big hitters in the F1 industry.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, Ed here introducing something a bit different for you as we settle into the gap between the Miami and Canadian Grand Prix. |
| 0:10.9 | In Miami, the race recorded the first of its new In Conversation with Interview Series as part of the race business, |
| 0:17.7 | and our first guest was none other than McLaren's CEO, Zach Brown. In the conversation with Darren Cox from the race business, and our first guest was none other than McLaren CEO, Zach Brown. |
| 0:21.6 | In the conversation with Darren Cox from the race business, |
| 0:24.6 | Zach looked back over his career prior to heading up the current world champion team |
| 0:28.7 | and explained how close he came to accepting a job offer from F1 itself, |
| 0:33.0 | just before McLaren came calling. |
| 0:35.1 | It's a fascinating discussion where you'll hear Zach discuss his |
| 0:38.2 | journey before and during his time in F1 in great detail, and it will give you an insight into the |
| 0:43.3 | way he operates at McLaren and how he has helped turn around a team that even he admits was |
| 0:48.1 | a mess when he got there. So here's the interview in full. We hope you like it and look for |
| 0:53.5 | the race business on YouTube |
| 0:55.1 | if you'd like to check out more conversations like this one with big hitters in the F1 industry. Zach, thank you for taking the time. |
| 1:14.7 | McLaren are double reigning Formula One world champions. |
| 1:18.3 | You've got 50 or more partners in the group. |
| 1:22.2 | Record revenue. |
| 1:23.7 | You're doing well in IndyCar. |
| 1:24.9 | You're just about to go to Le Mans. |
| 1:26.3 | You've just launched a golf company. |
| 1:28.9 | Is this Peak McLaren? |
| 1:31.4 | No, it's McLaren top form. |
| 1:35.5 | But I think until we've won the Indy 500 and the IndyCar Championship, |
... |
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