ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has revealed the Formula One team was “on the brink” financially prior to selling shares and securing investment that helped spark its turnaround.
McLaren is on the verge of winning its first F1 constructors’ championship since 1998 at the Abu Dhabi GP, holding a 21-point advantage over Ferrari going into the 2024 season finale on Sunday.
Its drivers, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, finished first and second in two of the three practice sessions, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc must serve a 10-place grid penalty on Sunday due to a battery change on Friday.
McLaren’s turnaround to now contend for an F1 championship comes just four years after financial struggles onset by the COVID-19 pandemic prompted it to sell part of its team to American sports investment group MSP Sports Capital at the end of 2020.
The cash investment of £185 million ($235.8 million) helped McLaren advance with infrastructure projects at its base in Woking, England and brought fresh financial stability. Since 2020, the team has progressed from F1’s midfield to end its nine-year win drought in 2021 and evolved into a consistent front-runner in the past two seasons.
In a select roundtable with media, including The Athletic, on Saturday at the Yas Marina Circuit, Brown explained just how precarious the F1 team’s financial outlook was prior to the investment arriving.
“We were definitely on the brink,” Brown said. “We were paying all our bills. But we were months away, and not several months, from … We knew we could make it through the year. But we were in a situation where if we didn’t have a cash injection, we would have been a risk at (not) starting the year.
“I needed to protect the team from them being aware so everyone could remain in the very positive, energetic spirits they were bringing because the team was progressing nicely. It wasn’t a comfortable place at all.”
While Brown said he was “always confident” McLaren’s shareholders would never let it get to a point where the team was at risk, he said it was “clear we needed the investment.”
“I could put my head on a pillow at night knowing they would back us up if they have to,” Brown said. “But it was going to be the ninth innings, to use a baseball term, before they brought in the relief pitcher.”
After the opening six races of the season, McLaren recovered from trailing Red Bull by 115 points in the constructors’ championship to move into the lead of the team standings after Piastri’s Azerbaijan GP victory.
Norris emerged as Max Verstappen’s closest challenger for the F1 drivers’ championship, only to have his defeat confirmed in Las Vegas with two rounds to spare, prompting McLaren’s attention to shift entirely to the constructors’ title chase.
Asked how soul-crushing losing at the final round would be, Brown replied: “Absolutely. So we’re trying to do what got us here this weekend, and not race differently, not think about the championship.
“There’s not a lap I’m not calculating the championship, ‘He’s in that position, he’s in that position. Where are we?’ So, I’d be lying if I said it isn’t pretty stressful. But the team’s relaxed.”
Brown said he had spoken to professional athletes, including ice hockey great Mark Messier and two-time Stanley Cup winner Anže Kopitar, about handling nerves, which he said were a positive sign.
“Of course, we’ll be massively disappointed to not win it,” Brown said. “But if that unfortunately happens, we need to shift quickly to look at what we’ve done this year and where we’ve come from.
“We’ve come from the brink of insolvency to five race wins, second-most amount of podiums consecutively in the history of McLaren, gone down to the last race against Ferrari, have beat Red Bull and Mercedes.
“So if you asked me, at the beginning of 2023, ‘You finished second in the championship, won five races, 14 podiums in a row, 20 podiums for the year,’ I would have bitten your hand off.
“Of course we’ll be disappointed. But we’ll need to quickly shift to just reflecting on what we have accomplished, and we’ve got to be pretty damn proud.”
Top photo of Zak Brown at the Abu Dhabi GP: Sipa USA
