The management culture that has helped McLaren’s push to F1 title glory

McLaren CEO Zak Brown thinks a management team that is “constructively critical” of itself has been a cornerstone of his team’s success in Formula 1.

The Woking-based squad ended a 26-year wait for constructors’ championship success this year with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri securing the crown at the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

For Brown, the success is the culmination of efforts he made since joining the squad in 2016 to sort out both the off-track commercial and on-track performance aspects.

Speaking exclusively to Motorsport.com about why he thinks McLaren was successful in putting in place what was needed to triumph, Brown suggested his style of leadership was important in allowing talent below him to thrive.

“Something I think I’m good at is getting the best people in their roles – pushing them very hard, giving them constant feedback, but letting them do their job,” he said. “It’s about getting the best out of them and driving the pace of the organisation.

“There is a passion in being constructively critical of ourselves. My leadership team, which is about 10-strong, is awesome, and we challenge each other.

“We’re immensely loyal to each other, but we disagree with each other and it’s very constructive knowing a lot of people push back on me.”

Brown thinks that everyone being open with each other, and willing to speak up if they see things that are wrong, has been important in helping McLaren chart the right path.

“My leadership team is comfortable saying, ‘Zak, I think you got it wrong here’,” Brown added. “I can push back, and they will push back again, but in a very constructive way.”

He also thinks it is important that he has helped support those around him as much as possible so they can deliver on their targets.

“My mindset is I’m here to support the team,” Brown said. “I work for the team; they don’t work for me.

“So it’s like with Andrea [Stella, team boss]: ‘What do you need from me? What can I do? What do you need? Do you need help with drivers? Do you need to get this driver signed? Or is there something commercial I can help with?’

Andrea Stella, Team Principal, McLaren F1 Team, the McLaren team celebrate after securing the Constructors title

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

“My view is I’m very much the support. I’m the manager, so I’m not the quarterback. Andrea is the quarterback; everyone on the leadership team is a quarterback. I’m the manager, helping call the plays, helping, but I’m not throwing the ball.”

Knowing what you don’t know

Brown thinks another aspect of his leadership style is being aware of what his strengths and weaknesses are.

With F1 operations so complex now, it would be all too easy for senior management to get involved in elements they know little about – which is why he is very much hands-off in certain areas.

“It is like on the pitwall, I don’t interfere,” he said. “Andrea and I talk to each other, I ask questions and I share my thoughts. But while I’ve been a racer my whole life, I’m the least qualified person on that pitwall to call a race.

“Some other team bosses, they strike me that they want to appear to be doing stuff that they shouldn’t.

“One of the greatest things that Tom Stallard [Piastri’s race engineer] said to me was, ‘You know what I like about you on the pitwall? It’s that you don’t ever say anything!’

“It would be easy in front of the cameras to try to make it look like I’m the one who ran the strategy for the race. But that’s not a good look for your own racing team – even forgetting about what the people in the grandstand think.

“I’m not going to tell Tom or Will [Joseph, Norris’s engineer] how to run a race. I’m not qualified to do that. And I think that gains respect.”