McLaren CEO Zak Brown has opened up on his ambition to see what he describes as “planets” in the company’s “solar system”.
The American was drafted in at the British team back in 2016 in the fallout from a failed takeover bid which ultimately saw Ron Dennis ousted after 36 years at the helm of the company.
Immediately, Brown’s impact saw McLaren shift from the very institutional rule under Dennis to a more modern vibe with greater social interaction with fans and a return to the famous Papaya orange livery which founder Bruce McLaren’s cars were known for.
His first year also saw two major decisions, the first was to end the troubled partnership with Honda after three years, though the Japanese manufacturer is enjoying life at Red Bull now thank you very much.
The other saw McLaren return to Indianapolis for the first time since 1979 in partnership with Andretti Autosport, a team Brown is also associated, to give Fernando Alonso a chance to compete for the Triple Crown.
“I was new to the job, but when I presented it to the board, they immediately understood why I wanted to do it,” he revealed to Crash.net.
“There was no convincing them, they said ‘that’s a great idea’ and it was exciting because people don’t race in multiple motorsports. They view it differently, I’ve got a more open mind.
“I think it’s great that race car drivers drive in different formulas, so I think it was mainly refreshing for the sport to see something that really hadn’t been done since Jim Clark raced.
“It created a lot of excitement around the McLaren brand, and I think it created a lot of excitement in motorsports.”
That has since evolved with McLaren returning to the Brickyard for a second time last year and 2020 will see the company make a full-time return to IndyCar after joining forces with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports to create Arrow McLaren SP.
The next step, however, is sportscars and the new hypercar regulations coming to the WEC later this year and while a decision is still pending, Brown’s goal is clear.
“McLaren is the only team to have won the Triple Crown. My own personal goal is that I’d love to win each of those championships and each of the big races,” he said.
“I know that it will take a while to try and accomplish that, but I’m here for the long term. I love my job, and there is no place I would rather be than where I am now.
“Everyone has their racing goals, their individual goals. My individual goal is clearly to win as many championships as possible in those three racing series.”
The recent news of WEC and IMSA agreeing to shared regulations for a new LMDh class has also opened up the American sportscar market to McLaren, including the Rolex Daytona 24 Hours, and participation in that would just be another “planet” in Brown’s “solar system”.
“The biggest planet is Formula 1, then you’ve got IndyCar, which really is all about North America and you’ve got sports car racing, which is really all about our automotive business,” he explained.
“You’ve got Esports, which is about your younger audience. Our applied technology business is supplying the battery to Formula E, that gives us that electrification message.
“If you look at that in total, that’s an exciting portfolio of McLaren racing activities.”