No blame game, clear leadership, and shared responsibility—Zak Brown describes the internal transformation that brought McLaren back to the top
McLaren CEO Zak Brown has provided insights into the changes to the team structure that took the Woking-based team from the back of the midfield to winning the Constructors’ World Championship in 2024 and 2025. He noted that it wasn’t just technical development that was crucial, but above all a fundamental change in the work culture within the team.
In a conversation with Will Buxton on the “Up To Speed” podcast, Brown explained that Team Principal Andrea Stella and a newly established technical leadership structure, in particular, had contributed significantly to the success. “It’s about people and leadership. I’m not talking about my own leadership, but about my leadership team, led by Andrea Stella, which is responsible for the racing team’s performance,” Brown continued.
Although McLaren made some personnel changes at the top, the vast majority of the workforce remained unchanged. “I replaced three of the key executives. But when we’re talking about the roughly 1,000 employees on the Formula 1 team, the 997 who built us a car at the start of the year—which was arguably the slowest on the grid—are the same 997 people who built us a world championship-winning car.”
No More Blame Within the Team
Brown sees the decisive difference in the team’s leadership. “The leadership the entire team has received has ensured that everyone is working toward the same goal and pulling together. We constantly strive to push each other to peak performance and have created a great performance culture.”
A key part of this development, he said, was doing away with a culture of finger-pointing. “It’s a culture without finger-pointing. When we have a problem—and we do—we focus on the problem, not on the people. This creates a safe work environment. We work together.”
When Brown joined McLaren, the situation had been quite different. “Back then, people were blaming each other. I said, ‘It’s just a car. Maybe you think you’re doing a great job on the front axle and the fault lies with your colleagues at the rear. But in the end, it’s a single race car. So can we learn to work together better?’”
Cultural Change as the Foundation of Success
Brown describes the subsequent change process as a long-term endeavor. Within the team, they deliberately avoid referring to it as a “journey” and instead call it a “quest.” “A journey means coming to the office every day. A quest is like a flight to the moon. It’s a much bigger challenge. That’s why we use this term.”
According to the McLaren CEO, this cultural shift was one of the key prerequisites that enabled the team to turn its fortunes around and reestablish itself at the top of Formula 1.
