F1 Nation F1 Explains: Ask an F1 CEO – with McLaren’s Zak Brown
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Nov 6, 2026 
Zak Brown, former racer and motorsport marketing entrepreneur, leads McLaren Racing. He discusses a CEO’s role in driver signings, team culture, sponsor logo value, and the story behind McLaren’s papaya colours. Brown also compares his pit-wall duties with Andrea Stella’s, surveys McLaren’s racing portfolio, and shares his path from the cockpit to the corner office.
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Why An F1 CEO Spends Every Day With People
- Zak Brown’s CEO role centers on people rather than a fixed split between business and racing.
- His days cover sponsors, fans, employees, shareholders, drivers, media, and factory teams, with every day looking different.
How Brown And Stella Divide McLaren’s Work
- Andrea Stella owns racing performance, while Zak Brown removes commercial and organizational demands from his workload.
- Brown observes from the pit wall and contributes privately, but never calls pit stops or chooses tires.
Why Modern F1 Teams Need Specialized Leaders
- Modern F1 teams have grown too large for one leader to combine ownership, engineering, racing, and commercial responsibilities.
- McLaren’s scale requires specialized executives so each leader can focus deeply without compromising performance.