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Uncanny Valley | WIRED

The Tech Behind McLaren Racing’s F1 Dominance

Uncanny Valley | WIRED

WIRED

Technology

4.1570 Ratings

🗓️ 2 June 2026

⏱️ 40 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Formula 1 racing is a global phenomenon. McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown joins Katie to break down the historic turnaround of one of motorsport’s most iconic legacy teams. After turning around a decades-long drought to win back-to-back F1 Constructors' Championships in 2024 and 2025, McLaren is officially back at the front of the grid. Zak turns Katie into an F1 convert as they discuss the team’s cultural resurgence, the massive commercial explosion driving Formula 1’s growth and the high tech nature of the sport and their team strategy. 


Join WIRED’s best and brightest on Uncanny Valley as they dissect the collision of tech, politics, finance, and business, from Alexis Ohanian’s newest tech venture to the effects of inaccurate information from artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots on social protests.



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Transcript

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0:00.0

From Wired, this is the big interview, where we'll get to know the people beyond the headlines

0:09.0

in conversations that explore the intersection of technology, power, and culture.

0:13.0

I'm Katie Drummond, Wired's global editorial director.

0:17.0

Formula One Auto Racing, or F1, is already very popular overseas.

0:21.6

And in the past few years, it's broken into the US in a big way.

0:25.6

Much of that success can be attributed to the sports representation in movies and on streaming platforms.

0:30.6

Netflix has a series, Formula One Drive to Survive, that's now in its eighth season.

0:35.6

And you may remember that among the Oscar contenders

0:38.8

for Best Picture this year was the blockbuster

0:40.7

named, fittingly, F1, starring none other than Brad Pitt

0:44.5

as a race car driver.

0:45.9

But in the world of auto racing,

0:47.6

one team in particular has made a huge comeback.

0:50.8

McLaren Racing, one of the sports's oldest teams,

0:53.6

won three world championships between

0:55.7

2024 and 2025. Each marked the first time the team has clinched those titles in decades.

1:02.5

And at the helm of the storied racing franchise is CEO Zach Brown, who's credited with much of the

1:07.9

team's recent success. He joins me now to talk about all this and more. Welcome, Zach.

1:12.5

Thank you for having me on.

1:13.5

We're thrilled to have you. I'm so excited to talk. And I need to start with a confession.

1:17.8

I need to start by leveling with you here.

1:20.2

Wired covers sports a little bit. Particularly on YouTube, we have just fanatical audience for

...

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