Zak Brown replaces Ron Dennis at McLaren

An American – Zak Brown – to run McLaren. With the Americans now owning F1 and an American running a strong team in McLaren, might we see an American driver at McLaren in the future?

Zak Brown has been confirmed as the new Executive Director of McLaren Technology Group, a week after McLaren scion Ron Dennis was removed from the role of Chairman and CEO by the shareholders.

The Californian, 45, has been one of the leading business figures in F1 for the last decade and had been tipped for a commercial role in the new administration of F1 Management after a Liberty Media takeover next spring.

But the McLaren opportunity came up and Brown fits the bill, as former CEO of Chime Sports Marketing and before that of sponsorship agency JMI.

A statement from McLaren said that Brown will work alongside Chief operating officer Jonathan Neale. There is mention of a CEO coming in above the pair, but it does not mention that Racing Director Eric Boullier will be the third part of the management trio, one imagines with the title Team Principal, rather than the vague title previously bestowed on him.

The suggestion from sources close to the matter is that the trio will report directly to the board and shareholders. Brown’s commercial acumen and relationships with F1 management and Liberty Media will sit alongside Neale’s skills as a manager and organizer. Boullier will be left to get on with running the F1 team.

It looks a strong line up. The top tier of F1 teams these days requires more than one person; Mercedes has Toto Wolff as CEO and commercial boss with Paddy Lowe in charge of the race team and engineering.

Bernie Ecclestone has suggested that Ferrari is not succeeding at present because the model is outdated and Team Principal Maurizio Arrivabene needs an organizer alongside him, someone like Neale is for McLaren.

McLaren putting in place this trio, sets them up with a management team fit for purpose; allied to the huge ambition of Honda, its F1 engine partner, it will be a team worth watching over the next three years.
Brown Bernie Ecclestone

Brown is well respected among F1 insiders for the brands he has brought to the sport. He has a passion for F1 and for racing cars in general. He owns a number of classic F1 cars and is a co-owner of the United Autosports ELMS team which won the LMP3 championship this year.

“I’m immensely proud to be joining McLaren Technology Group," said Brown. “I have the utmost respect and admiration for what the business has achieved to date, and I look forward to contributing to the next important phase in its development.

“Having worked closely with McLaren for many years, I’ve been struck by the talent and ambition of the entire workforce, and I very much look forward to complementing the business’s many existing strengths, and building on them to drive future success in everything we do.

“As founder of Just Marketing International (JMI) — now the world’s largest motorsport marketing agency — I’ve often worked closely with McLaren as I say, and I’ve developed some excellent relationships across the company. Together we’ve delivered some great sponsorship deals, including Johnnie Walker, GSK, Hilton, Lenovo, Chandon and NTT.

“Best of all, in my new role I’ll be able to combine my absolute passion with my unparalleled area of expertise — respectively motorsport and marketing — while ensuring that the two stay totally aligned." James Allen on F1