The ‘pretty scary’ McLaren situation inherited with F1 team ‘losing ton of money’

Fernando Alonso in action for McLaren-Honda at the final race of the 2016 season in Abu Dhabi

McLaren chief executive Zak Brown has lifted the lid on the “pretty scary” situation he found when he first joined the team at the end of the 2016 season.

McLaren have a great chance to end their extended wait for a World Championship in F1 2024, with the Woking-based team within 42 points of Red Bull ahead of the final 10 races of the season.

Zak Brown open up on ‘pretty scary’ early days at McLaren

Additional reporting by Pablo Hidalgo

A Constructors’ Championship triumph would see McLaren claim their first F1 title of any kind since Lewis Hamilton secured the first of his joint-record seven Drivers’ crowns in 2008. It would also be McLaren’s first teams’ title since 1998.

Brown has overseen a stunning transformation at McLaren since initially arriving as executive director in November 2016, before becoming CEO in April 2018.

The American joined at a time McLaren were seriously underperforming, with their struggles with technical partners Honda seeing the team twice finish ninth in the Constructors’ Championship in 2015 and 2017 before parting ways with the Japanese manufacturer.

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Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button, the team’s drivers at that stage with three World Championships and 47 grand prix victories between them, both struggled to contain their frustration with the situation, with Alonso memorably describing Honda’s power unit as a “GP2 engine” over team radio during the 2015 Japanese Grand Prix.

Reflecting on his early days at McLaren, Brown has admitted it was a “pretty scary” time with on-track performance poor and sponsors jumping ship, resulting in the team “losing a ton of money.”

He told the BBC: “It was worse than I thought it was.

“We were ninth in the championship. We had blank race cars, I think three sponsors.

“We had upset fans, upset racing drivers and we had a pretty down and out racing team. It was pretty scary.

“The team needed resources – because we were losing a ton of money – to be able to invest in drivers and technology and people.”

After a switch to Renault engines failed to improve McLaren’s fortunes, Alonso took a sabbatical from F1 at the end of the 2018 season.

The two-time World Champion, now 43, has since returned to F1, claiming a total of nine podium finishes since the 2021 season with the Alpine and Aston Martin teams, but remains without a race win since the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix.

With McLaren re-emerging as a leading force in F1 2024 and Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri securing maiden victories in Miami and Hungary respectively, Brown expressed his regret that the team did not have a more competitive car to offer Alonso prior to his departure.

Asked to name the most complete driver he has worked with at the recent Belgian Grand Prix, Brown told DAZN Spain: “If I put aside Lando and Oscar, because obviously I’m biased, I’d say Fernando Alonso is a pretty special talent.

“I have a great relationship with Fernando. It’s disappointing that we didn’t have a better car when he was racing with us.

“It’s awesome to watch him race, he’s very smart. And to see him still performing at the level he is performing the older he is, he’s great and he’s a great friend.”

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