How Zak Brown engineered McLaren's championship resurgence
Zak Brown's strategic rebuild of McLaren, from the depths of the Honda era to 2025's double championship win, showcases a masterclass in F1 team management through engine deals, driver development, and key leadership appointments.
Zak Brown's leadership as CEO has been central to McLaren's dramatic transformation from a struggling midfield team to a dominant double-world champion in Formula 1. The American executive, who joined in 2016 during the troubled Honda partnership era, systematically rebuilt the team's technical foundation, driver lineup, and leadership, culminating in Lando Norris's 2025 Drivers' title and back-to-back Constructors' Championships.
Why it matters:
McLaren's journey under Brown represents one of the most complete and successful rebuilds in modern F1 history. It demonstrates how strategic long-term planning, key personnel decisions, and stable management can overcome a period of deep competitive crisis, providing a blueprint for other teams aiming to return to the front of the grid.
The details:
- Brown joined McLaren in November 2016 as Executive Director, inheriting a team mired at the back of the grid with an unreliable Honda power unit and a frustrated Fernando Alonso.
- The pivotal switch from Honda to Renault power for 2018 began the recovery, but the true foundation was laid with the 2019 driver lineup of young talents Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz.
- A critical long-term decision was securing a return to Mercedes power units for the 2021 season, restoring a top-tier engine partnership.
- Leadership Change: In December 2022, Brown made the key promotion of Andrea Stella from Racing Director to Team Principal, replacing Andreas Seidl. This move stabilized the team's technical direction heading into the 2023 season.
- Building Momentum: The team consistently scored podiums in 2023, including a Sprint win in Qatar, setting the stage for a 2024 campaign where they could finally match Red Bull's performance.
The big picture:
Brown's tenure is defined by patience and structured progression. The path moved from escaping the back of the grid, to establishing itself as 'best of the rest', to regularly challenging for wins, and finally to securing championships. This phased approach allowed Norris and Oscar Piastri to develop within a steadily improving environment, avoiding the pressure of immediate title expectations. The calm, managed rivalry between the two drivers in 2025, with only one collision in Canada and strategic cooperation like at Monza, reflects the strong team culture established under this leadership.
What's next:
McLaren heads into the 2026 season as the defending champion in both championships for the first time since 1999. The challenge now shifts from climbing the mountain to staying at its peak. The new 2026 technical regulations will be the ultimate test of whether the structure Brown has built can sustain success through a major rule change, fending off renewed challenges from Ferrari, Red Bull, and Mercedes.