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Ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500, Zak Brown sat down with SB Nation for an exclusive chat on McLaren’s racing season
Memorial Day Weekend is heaven for motorsport enthusiasts.
This weekend brings some of the marquee events on the racing calendar each year. Sunday night sees the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, the longest race on the schedule and one of the most fascinating each year, given elements such as the day-to-night transition as a result of the start time.
However, earlier in the day racing fans are treated to the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix, the crown jewel of the F1 calendar, as well as a global event, the Indianapolis 500.
This makes for a busy Sunday for McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown.
McLaren has six drivers competing this weekend. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will look to keep McLaren F1’s hot streak alive on the Monte Carlo Streets, and then Arrow McLaren has four drivers in the Indianapolis 500, all of whom are starting inside the top 15.
For added measure one of those drivers, NASCAR Cup champion Kyle Larson, is trying to do “The Double,” as he’ll leave the Indianapolis 500 and make the trip to Charlotte for the Coca-Cola 600.
Ahead of this busy weekend, SB Nation sat down with Brown to talk about the team’s start to the F1 season, the mystique of the Indianapolis 500, Arrow McLaren’s chances in the Indianapolis 500, and more.
Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images
A stunning reversal of fortunes on the F1 side
It is hard to imagine a bigger turnaround for a Formula 1 team than what we have seen from McLaren over the past calendar year.
Take, as a reference point, the Miami Grand Prix.
Last year’s installment of the Miami Grand Prix was a rather difficult weekend for McLaren. Both Norris and Piastri were eliminated in the first segment of qualifying, and the duo started at the back of the field. Things did not get much better in the race itself, as Norris finished 17th and Piastri two spots behind him, a lap down in P19.
But that was last year.
A few weeks ago in the 2024 Miami Grand Prix Norris finally broke through with his maiden F1 victory, and were it not for some contact with Carlos Sainz Jr., Piastri was well on his way to another points finish. He still managed to pick up a point for the team, banking the fastest lap of the race in the closing stages.
Now, as the Monaco Grand Prix beckons, McLaren sits fourth in the Constructor’s Championship, a far cry from where they were a year ago.
I asked Brown about Norris’s maiden win, and what that meant for the team.
“It was awesome,” came the immediate reply from the McLaren boss.
“Lando was long overdue for a win, but we needed to give him a car and put him in a position to win, and we did that and he delivered to no great surprise,” continued Brown. ”I think all his record number of podiums would have been a lot more wins had we given [him a car] and put him in a position to win. So I think great to get it done. Great to get it done in Miami being such a big race, maybe as an American, a little bit extra special for me being personally on this journey with Lando pre-McLaren times.”
Brown also noted how Norris won the race on pace, and merit.
“He earned it, right? Max [Verstappen] was right behind him and while the safety car helped with some track positioning, if Max was faster, he would have passed him and then left him,” outlined Brown. ”So it’s great in which the fashion he won. It wasn’t a five-car pile-up in Turn One and he squeaks through. And also worth noting how fast Oscar was all weekend and what a great race he had going, he was only a few seconds behind Max, and the safety part didn’t work to his advantage.
“So overall, awesome win. And I think given Lando and McLaren’s popularity in Formula One, an immensely popular win for the sport as well.”
I then asked Brown about how close the team was to truly fighting at the front for more than individual race wins. When we spoke last October, the McLaren CEO noted that in his mind, the Piastri/Norris duo was the best pairing on the grid and that if the team could give them a fast car, they would be fighting for wins and potentially championships.
Given their success so far this season, and the pace of the MCL38, how close are they to fighting for titles, and not just wins and podiums?
“Not close enough,” started Brown.
“But we’re not far away and, the team is doing a fantastic job.”
Yet, the McLaren boss sees the progress over the past year.
“They have since last year and developing the car and it’s clear that that path continues and I think as long as it continues then I don’t see why we can’t be, you know, I’ve always said once you’re fighting for the podium on a regular basis, then you’re gonna start fighting for wins on a regular basis,” described Brown.
”I’d like to see a few more races before we can make the claim that we’re fighting for a win every weekend. I think it’s a little early. But certainly the last couple of races, Monaco just looked good this morning” (Note: Our interview took place right after FP1 in Monaco, which saw Piastri up in P2 and Norris in P4).
“But then I think once you’re fighting for wins on a regular basis, that means you’re fighting for the championship,” continued Brown. “So you know, I wouldn’t want to kind of say, be too bullish on this year. We’ve got a lot of racing to go, but I don’t see any reason why if we continue on the journey that we’re on, as we speak, that we can’t be fighting for the championship the next year and beyond.”
Speaking of looking good in Monaco, the team unveiled a special livery for the Monaco Grand Prix, paying tribute to the late Ayrton Senna. The F1 legend was a master everywhere he raced, but his accomplishments in Monaco are of particular note. Senna won the Monaco Grand Prix six times and qualified on pole five times, both of which remain records in F1. His qualifying lap in 1988 remains one of the legendary efforts in the sport’s history.
I asked Brown what it meant to have that special livery this weekend.
“I think we’re very lucky, and fortunate that Senna’s prime history, if you like, is with McLaren. So it gives us a license to celebrate Senna in Formula One. Our history with him [included] three world championships with him. He’s such an icon, a legend. So much love for Senna that to be able to do that, to give back to the Senna family, to give back to our team, a lot of which raced with Ayrton, to give back to the fans, to give back to the sport.
“The response unsurprisingly has just been awesome, and it’s really cool.
“I’m very proud of everyone on the McLaren marketing department who kind of led the charge on these special liveries and iconic moments and it’s been really well received.”
The mystique of Indianapolis and Arrow McLaren’s chances
As we spoke, Brown was not in Monaco.
He was in Indianapolis, ahead of the 108th Indianapolis 500. This is where Brown has been the past few seasons on Memorial Day Weekend supporting Arrow McLaren, the racing organization’s IndyCar team.
As our discussion transitioned to the Indianapolis 500, I started with a question about the event itself. Over qualifying weekend Jeff Gordon noted how the Indianapolis 500 turned him into a fan of motorsport when he was younger, a comment that resonated with me. As a child growing up in the Boston area, before Dale Earnhardt turned me into a NASCAR fan, and Michael Schumacher turned me into an F1 fan, I knew what the Indianapolis 500 was, and what it meant.
So I asked Brown about what makes the Indianapolis 500 so special.
“I think, and I share that and probably my earliest memories are Johnny Rutherford [in the Indianapolis 500], and hanging out with him this weekend is, you know, a pinch me moment,” said Brown.
“I’m fortunate. I have a lot of pinch-me moments these days, being in the fortunate position to work for McLaren. But, you know, it was always Memorial Day Weekend, the fastest race in the world, the largest live sporting attended event in the world with the most iconic names,” continued Brown. ”The Andrettis, the Rutherfords, the Clarks, the Stewarts to the Unsers, the Fittipaldis.
“And it’s a race that usually brings drama to it.
I remember, you know, Emerson [Fittipaldi] and [Al Unser Jr.] touching with a few laps to go,” recalled Brown. ”So it’s produced some of the most iconic moments in sport. And so you put that all together. If you like motor racing, it’s hard not to have had the Indy 500 make that impression on you as a kid growing up.
“It certainly did on me.”
As far as pinch-me moments go, Brown has been lucky to live another one over the past few weeks and months. As noted above Arrow McLaren has four drivers in the field this year: Alexander Rossi, Pato O’Ward, Callum Ilott, and NASCAR Cup Champion Kyle Larson, who is trying to complete ”The Double,” as he will drive in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday night.
That has meant working with Rick Hendrick, and Hendrick Motorsports.
I asked the McLaren CEO what that process has been like from his perspective.
“Oh, awesome. I mean again, talking about growing up,” said Brown. ”I was older when Jeff Gordon was being Jeff Gordon, but I wasn’t in the business. So it was still kind of, ’[O]h my God, there’s Jeff Gordon.’ Rick Hendrick, it’s he and Roger Penske, the two biggest icons in certainly American Motorsport. So to be able to partner with Rick, partner with Jeff, have a driver of Kyle’s caliber, [has been awesome].
“And so when I did a media conference with Rick a couple of days ago, to just hear him kind of talk about Arrow McLaren [and] reference his relationship with me, that was, that was special because it wasn’t long ago that, you know, I still have Rick on a pedestal and Jeff on a pedestal, but it wasn’t long ago, they were out of reach and, and now to be able to call Rick and Jeff a partner in racing with them [in Hendrick’s] first time in Indy is definitely a pinch me moment in that [media] conference, Tuesday.”
I then asked Brown about what he had seen from Larson so far. In that referenced media conference that I attended, Brown talked about how seeing Larson qualify in the top half of the field would have been an impressive result.
He will start fifth on Sunday.
“Amazing,” described Brown. ”I mean, that is an awesome performance and I’m very proud of our team because, you know, you can’t do it without a team and a car. So for Arrow McLaren to get him comfortable, [and] up to speed, as we know it’s a team effort.
“So I’m extremely impressed with what Kyle has done, and I’m very extremely impressed what the team’s done to put Kyle in a position to qualify fifth. Overall [I] just couldn’t be more proud with the collective effort that’s come together to produce such an awesome qualifying run.
“And now we got race day to go.”
Race day, however, might be tricky for Larson given current forecasts, which are calling for thunderstorms, perhaps severe, on Sunday. With the Coca-Cola 600 set to start Sunday night, the team might be forced to pull Larson out of the Indianapolis 500, so he can get to Charlotte for the start of that race. It is a prospect that both Hendrick and Brown discussed in that Tuesday media conference, and the McLaren boss touched on briefly during our discussion.
“Hopefully it won’t rain or if it rains, it rains all day because, you know, we got the whole Charlotte thing, which is … tricky.”
Still, Larson is one of the team’s four drivers in the field. Rossi will start alongside Larson on the second row, as the 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner qualified fourth. When I spoke with Rossi earlier this week he told me that his is the best car he has had at Indianapolis since the 2019 season, when he finished second. O’Ward will start on the third row, and Ilott starting 15th gives Arrow McLaren all four cars inside the top 15.
In Brown’s mind, all four can run up at the front.
“I don’t see any reason why all our cars can’t run at the front. You know, we’ve got three in the top eight. Callum, not far behind. I think our cars are really good,” started Brown.
“Clearly in qualifying. Penske was the class of the field. I would expect them to be, in addition to others, but Penske being the toughest competition,” continued Brown. ”It’s a long race, but I see no reason why our four cars can’t be in the mix along with probably another ten cars. In reality, I think anyone who’s qualified in the top 15 come race day, they’re all going to be there. And I think that’s how competitive the Indy 500 is gonna be.”
What does having four cars in the top 15 mean for Arrow McLaren?
In Brown’s mind, it is a matter of picking up where they left off a season ago.
In the 2023 Indianapolis 500 Arrow McLaren had four drivers — Rossi, O’Ward, Felix Rosenqvist, and Tony Kanaan — in the field, all of whom started inside the top 12. The team was on track for perhaps a stunning result, but accidents from both Rosenqvist and O’Ward in the closing stages cost them what could have been a tremendous day. Rossi crossed the line fifth, their top finisher a year ago.
“Yeah, we’re very competitive. We were extremely competitive last year. I think we were the best qualifying overall team. We led 78 of 200 laps the year before [2022, where] we finished second. So I think we’ve been competitive at Indy for some time now.
“I think last year was our race to win and unfortunately, we had two, late-in-the-day incidents. I thought for a moment there we could be on for a 1-2, and ended up with both those cars in the bench. But, you know, Alex wasn’t far behind. We didn’t quite give him the car to get him in the mix. But, you know, we really had three cars running in the kind of top five all day, so we’re kind of picking up where we left off.
We thought we would be competitive here, but we saw what happened last year. So we got to make sure we execute all 500 miles this year.”
Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
McLaren’s racing pedigree and the Triple Crown of Motorsport
Along with the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Indianapolis 500 and the Monaco Grand Prix comprise the unofficial Triple Crown of Motorsport. Three iconic races, two of which happen this weekend.
Over their rich racing history, McLaren is the only team that can lay claim to having won all three events. However, it took some time for McLaren to capture all three races. Johnny Rutherford won McLaren’s first Indianapolis 500 back in 1974. McLaren’s maiden Monaco Grand Prix win came in 1984 when Alain Prost conquered the Monte Carlo streets. McLaren completed the Triple Crown in 1995 when JJ Lehto, Yannick Dalmas, and Masanori Sekiya took victory in their first 24 Hours of Le Mans.
That was an accomplishment the team marked last year, their 60th in motorsport. At last year’s Monaco Grand Prix McLaren used another special livery, the “Triple Crown” design for the MCL60 you see above.
However, it took over two decades for McLaren to secure their Triple Crown.
They can, theoretically, win two legs on Sunday alone.
My conversation with Brown concluded on that point. What would it mean for McLaren to win both races on Sunday, and how good are their chances at pulling it off?
“So I think we’ve got a better chance than anyone else in the world right now because we’re the only one in both,” laughed Brown.
“So I feel comfortable saying if anyone’s going to do it, it’s gonna be us.”
The McLaren boss then continued.
“I mean, it would be one of the greatest feats in sport if we did it,” added Brown. “I think we have the cars to do it.
“But a lot has to go right for that to happen.
“I think we can do it. But you know, those are things dreams are made of, but I think we got to keep our heads down and execute,” added Brown. “Not ‘chase the dream’ if you’d like. We just have to keep doing what we do. These are just two other races. Of course, they’re the two biggest races in the world. But we can’t go about racing any differently than we do any IndyCar race or any F1 race.
“And we see the chips fall.”
We’ll see how McLaren’s chips fall at both the Indianapolis 500, and the Monaco Grand Prix, in just a few days’ time.
