52-year-old F1 team boss is a level above all of his rivals at ‘deal-making’

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Formula 1 may ultimately be about who crosses the finish line first, but McLaren CEO Zak Brown also understands that the deals you do off the track are arguably just as important.

Securing the futures of drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are a huge boost, but McLaren are also now well-placed financially thanks to the 52-year-old American.

Speaking on Formel1.de’s YouTube channel, Formula 1 expert and former executive Mark Gallagher was praising Zak Brown.

While there are huge commercial opportunities to be had in one of the world’s most recognisable sports, it’s also extremely expensive to enter and remain on the grid.

In recent times, Haas are the only new team to survive in Formula 1, watching the likes of Caterham and Marussia fall by the wayside.

The likes of Eddie Jordan and Ron Dennis were synonymous with being brilliant negotiators off the track.

Gallagher has now suggested that the deals Zak Brown has done for McLaren are an example to the rest of the grid.

They’ve gone from struggling 10 years ago both financially and in a sporting sense to being one of the main contenders on the grid.

The Woking-based team are very recognisable now with their papaya-coloured livery and both Norris and Piastri have their work cut out with their commercial responsibilities.

McLaren CEO Brown praised for deals he’s done

Speaking about the 52-year-old, Gallagher said: “I think it comes down to Zak Brown and the fact that he’s a guy who eats, lives and breathes deal-making.

“He’s an American guy and this is important, who is commercially astute, highly motivated to make deals and he is running the McLaren team at the time when Formula 1 belongs to an American company Liberty Media, it’s listed on the New York Stock Exchange and when the sport has grown in America.

“I mean Zak is literally the perfect guy to be doing what he’s done. Now, he has a great team of people working for him at McLaren, he has a great agency network and of course, he actually built an agency, sold that company, and then was invited to join McLaren and effectively has taken over from Ron Dennis.

“Zak is the man of the moment for the commercial industry that Formula 1 really is and the proof is in that line-up of sponsorships.

“The thing that really blows me away, the thing that must put such a smile on Zak’s face every day is that when you look at the so-called small sponsors at McLaren, the brands that don’t have as much real estate on the car or the driver’s overalls, they’re not small deals and they’re not small companies.”

McLaren now in their strongest position in years

McLaren now have more commercial deals in place than any other Formula 1 team and so much of that is down to Zak Brown.

Oscar Piastri has already explained that there are a few ‘pretty clear’ weaknesses with McLaren’s 2024 car but an early upgrade package has already been promised.

Stability breeds success in Formula 1, hence why Norris’s contract was such an important piece of news despite his old deal running until 2025.

Brown and Andrea Stella have led McLaren brilliantly in recent years and they’ll be aiming for race wins sooner rather than later.