The sunny disposition of Zachary Challen Brown, known to everyone in Formula 1 as Zak, was probably an attack on McLaren. His predecessor Ron Dennis had made the anthracite-colored structure one of the most successful, but also the most aloof and unpopular racing teams in the premier class. Brown replaced Dennis at the beginning of 2017, then did practically everything differently than his arrogant English predecessor and transformed the loss-making relegated team into a profitable top racing team. It would be interesting to see whether one of Dennis’ favorite quirks fell by the wayside during the transformation: He had a replica made of every important trophy his team had won and put on a shelf so that he could always have it in his meeting room could keep an eye on his own success, no matter which side of the table he was sitting on.
As CEO of the racing team, Brown does not concentrate all his efforts on his own ego; he has turned the technology-loving autocracy into a tightly managed, but lively and flexible, modern team – following the example of Toto Wolff and Mercedes. This is particularly expressed in the person of Andrea Stella. Brown promoted the Italian from engineer to boss. And Stella became the Key.
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When asked about the process that his group went through from finishing last without a win in the spring of 2023 to Lando Norris’ triumph and winning the constructors’ title on Sunday evening in Abu Dhabi, the 53-year-old answers modestly: “We see ourselves as a network of human brains.” Emotions expressly included, although Stella is similarly obsessed with sporting perfection as Dennis. This has to do with the fact that the technician comes from the group of Italian racing experts who, with Michael Schumacher, helped shape the Scuderia’s most successful times at the turn of the millennium. A lot has stuck there, and he can pass on a lot.
The fact that Lando Norris achieved a start-to-finish victory in the final also has a lot to do with Stella’s psychological fine-tuning. Not once did he show any nerves, even though he was deprived of his team-mate Oscar Piastri due to an early crash. Stella recognizes his two drivers as the greatest talents of the next generation of racing drivers, and if the regulations remain the same in the transition year of 2025, he believes they can win the title. Because of the four top racing teams that are close together, McLaren is the one where the driver pairing remains stable. When it came to trying to deprive Max Verstappen of defending his driver’s title, both of them had to learn the hard way. But that could still be a valuable investment. It’s about more toughness and sovereignty.
For McLaren, the season finale is the perfect dress rehearsal for 2025
Even after his fourth win of the season, Norris continued to criticize himself for several minutes, but he also made it clear that the only person who could doubt him was himself. The 25-year-old also shouted this into the night sky above the Emirates: “Guys, that was our year! Next year will be mine.” After all, personal development and motivation turned out to be my greatest strength during the comeback. According to Brown, 997 of the 1,000 employees who created the successful MCL 38 had also been involved in the unsuccessful previous models in the past. For the boss, this is proof of what a difference faith in your own abilities can make. This also applies to him: “It was a privilege for us to compete for the title against such a great and historic team like Ferrari. If there is a little boy’s dream in Formula 1, this is it and it has come true.”
McLaren gained a lot of self-confidence at the end of the season after the drivers’ title went to Verstappen. This was the perfect dress rehearsal for the 2025 season, in which the previous technical regulations will be driven one last time. The logic and concentration of resources on the new beginning of the year suggests that the balance of power is likely to be maintained. It’s been tight so far, as Ferrari’s late comeback showed, 14 points behind in 24 races is no difference in class. McLaren now has a double-digit million sum more in its account, but a number of wind tunnel hours less.
“You need a guy like Zak Brown to attract the best people and sponsors. He is an incredible worker. But what counts more than anything is the atmosphere he brings to the team,” said Oscar Piastri. The Australian is also one of those that McLaren believes in, many see him as the future champion. Brown himself found the victorious finale to be the worst two hours of his life: “The result lists may say that Lando led the race for 58 laps – but it was 58 laps of terror for us. Just one small problem and it would have been over.” The 53-year-old then sprained his ankle while celebrating in the pit lane: “It’s been 26 years since McLaren won the constructors’ title, so I’ll be 26 years old on Sunday aged.”