FEATURE: ZAK BROWN – THE POWER AND THE PASSION

Zak Brown has had a tough introduction to Formula 1 – Photo: LAT

Zak Brown has had a tough introduction into the world of Formula 1, but the American is plans to bring McLaren back to its glory days. Brown’s track record speaks for itself, both in the boardroom and on the track, which means McLaren will be competitive sooner rather than later

Zak Brown with Fernando Alonso at the Indianapolis 500 test – Photo: LAT

By DAN KNUTSON

ZAK BROWN has a passion for motor sport.

This led him from racing go karts as a teenager in the 1980s to forming Just Marketing International [JMI] in 1995, which became the largest motor sports agency in the world and, then in November of last year being appointed Executive Director of the McLaren Technology Group. He is, according to McLaren, responsible for both the commercial and strategic operations of the Group, and plays a critical role in realigning and transforming the entire organisation behind some ambitious performance, growth and development goals.

It is Brown’s passion for motor sport that led him to suggesting that Fernando Alonso skip the Monaco Grand Prix and take on the challenge of competing in the Indianapolis 500. Alonso jumped at the chance, setting into motion an adventure in the month of May that became an odyssey in the annals of modern motor racing legend.

Fernando Alonso in an Indycar at Indianapolis – Photo: LAT

While McLaren’s core racing focus is and remains Formula 1, its return to the Indianapolis 500 – it first fielded cars in IndyCar, then USAC, in 1970 – is part of the company’s long-term philosophy and dovetails perfectly with Brown’s passion for motor sport.

“McLaren has a rich history in multiple forms of motor racing,” Brown says. “Formula 1 is our primary focus so we will not do anything that detracts from that or pulls resource from that. But we are doing electronics in F1, NASCAR, IndyCar and the battery in Formula E. We have won Le Mans, Can-Am etc. So as we move forward our criteria for other forms of motor racing are ‘can we be competitive, is it commercially viable and does it fit our brand?’ There are forms of motor racing we wouldn’t do, like drag racing, so anything that ticks those boxes and the fourth one being that it isn’t a distraction of our primary goal of being F1 champions, then we will entertain it.”

Fernando Alonso racing with McLaren at the Canadian Grand Prix – Photo: LAT

Brown’s chance to help guide McLaren continue its quest came when a power struggle led to the Board of Directors not renewing Ron Dennis’ contract as CEO of the McLaren Technology Group. Dennis, who founded the group and is credited with being instrumental in saving the McLaren F1 team from extinction [he was Team Principal from 1981 to 2009] and turning McLaren into a multi-million-dollar multi-faceted company, remains on the Board of Directors and retains a 25 percent shareholding. But Dennis no longer has the power to make decisions. Instead, the Board created a new position and hired Brown to do the job. Eric Boullier remains in charge of the Formula 1 team in his role of Racing Director.

At McLaren, Brown can combine his passion for racing with his business acumen.

“Everything we do is a business decision, including Formula 1,” he says. “As a racer, I would race 52 times a year, but everything we do has to be a business decision, competitive, commercially viable and on-brand.”

THE INDY ADVENTURE

Fernando Alonso racing in the Indy 500 Photo: LAT

A LOT of work had to be done in a short time once Fernando Alonso had readily agreed to race in the Indianapolis 500 in what would be a fifth Honda-powered McLaren-orange car entered by Andretti Autosport. Over thirty people from McLaren – including staff from the aerodynamicists, strategists, communications and PR departments – devoted themselves to the Indy project.

“I am not surprised but very impressed at how well McLaren, Andretti and IndyCar came together in a collaborative way,” Brown relates. “Everything not only on track went according to plan but everything off track as well. Everyone has done what they were supposed to do in a timely and accurate and friendly basis as has the Andretti team and IndyCar, so we crammed six months of preparation into one month and executed with perfection.

“I may have been the architect of the idea, but it took the Executive Committee to actually make the decisions, so they are the ones to be given the credit for that. But then everyone in those three groups did an excellent job. Probably 100 people in total made this happen.”

Mario Andretti and Zak Brown – Photo: LAT

Alonso immersed himself in the entire Indy experience on and off the track. He qualified fifth, ran in the front pack and led 27 laps before retiring on lap 179 of 200 with engine failure. It was an unfortunate ending to what had been a fabulous month of May for Alonso and McLaren.

“We had a great experience,” Brown says of. “It’s left a very good taste in our mouth. I’d like to see McLaren back at the Indy 500 on a regular basis. We haven’t made a decision yet. We’re very head down with the F1 team, and I’ve been a little distracted. It’s more likely than not that we will be back at the 500. As for doing a full season of IndyCar, with everything we’ve got going on, and and to get it right, we’re not talking about it now, let alone making those decisions. I think further down the road it’s a great series. McLaren racing in North America is a nice complement to Formula 1 because Formula 1 has limited reach there. But not yet, I think it’s a few years away.”

McLaren, of course, was hugely successful in the Can-Am series in North America in the late 1960s and early 1970s. McLaren cars won the Indianapolis 500 three times. The first victory was in 1972 with a customer car entered by Roger Penske for Mark Donahue. Johnny Rutherford won in 1974 and 1976 driving a factory entered car. It was not just at Indy where McLarens won as the cars earned a number of victories in the 1970s with a variety of teams.

Now McLaren is keen to once again expand its brand in that part of the world.

“McLaren is a brand and we need to promote its brand through motorsport because that’s what we’re known for.,” Brown says. “North America is a very important market to our automotive and technology business.”

In the 1970s, McLaren had a separate racing division in America run by Tyler Alexander. Would it consider doing the same thing again?

“It would depend on if we got involved in IndyCar and at what capacity would we staff up for it and where we would staff up for it,” Brown says. “Would that be at our base or in Indianapolis or some sort of combination thereof. But we have not got that far into our thinking of how we might tackle, and participate in either the Indy 500 and/or IndyCar in the future.”

While Alonso really enjoyed his Indy adventure, and while he is very frustrated with the uncompetitive and unreliable Honda power in his McLaren F1 car, Brown does not see Alonso switching to IndyCar next year.

“Fernando has been clear he is not done in F1,” Brown says. “I would not rule out IndyCar in the future but not 2018. We want him here and he has been clear he wants to be in F1.”

THE RACER’S RACES

Zak Brown’s United Autosport Ginetta Le Mans – Photo: LAT

ZAK BROWN is not only a racer in spirit, he is a racer in cars, and over the years he has competed in a wide variety of races, series and competitions.

He was born in Los Angeles, California on November 7, 1971. Just like many pro and amateur racers, he started off in go karts, winning 22 times from 1986 through 1990 in the U.S. Like many race drivers he then graduated for Formula Ford and in 1991 he headed to England. The next two years he took part in the Benelux Open Lotus Series, and he finished fourth in points in 1993. From 1993 through 1996 he competed on both sides of the Atlantic, racing in the Formula Toyota Atlantic Series in North America and the British Formula 3 Championship. He also made his debut in the Indy Lights category.

Between 1997 and 2000 Brown raced in the Formula Toyota Atlantic Championship as well as sports car endurance racing where he finished second in the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona and second in class in the Sebring 12 Hours.

Brown then took a sabbatical from 2001 through 2005 to focus on his business and Just Marketing International. The hugely successful JMI has raised over a billion dollars for drivers, tracks, teams and governing bodies in everything from Formula 1 to IndyCar to MotoGP, sports cars, Formula E and drag racing.

Back in the racing seat, Brown competed in the Ferrari Challenge Series America for several years.

In 2009, Brown and business partner Richard Dean founded a sports car racing team which they called United Autosports. It competes in races all around the world including the Bathurst 12 Hours, the Spa 24 Hours, and the Abu Dhabi 12 Hours. The historic arm of United Autosports prepares and manages classic cars for Brown and for customers.

In 2010, it was back to Europe for Brown to race in the FIA GT3 European Championship, and 2011 saw Brown racing prototypes and GTs in events from Daytona to Spa.

In 2012, he raced in the British GT Championship in a McLaren, winning the final round, plus the Blancpain Endurance Series. By now he was also involved in classic car racing including driving a Porsche 962 prototype in the Le Mans Classic and a McLaren M26 F1 car in the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique. The following year he did a full season in the British GT Championship driving a McLaren.

Since then he has taken part in a number of historic races and events including those in Le Mans, Monaco, Monterey, California and the Mille Miglia.

He has an eclectic collection of classic racing machines, including McLaren, Lotus and Benetton F1 models, and sports cars ranging from a 1955 Austin Healey 100M to more recent editions from McLaren, Ferrari and Lamborghini. These are not museum pieces or garage sitters – he drives and races them all.

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