McLaren staff lived in fear of ‘getting fired’ before Zak Brown joined the team

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Zak Brown joined McLaren in 2016, when the team were struggling on and off the track and the staff were in constant fear of being fired.

At the time Brown joined the team, McLaren had not won the championship since 2008 with Lewis Hamilton. They were regressing in performance on the track and were struggling to attract sponsors.

In 2016, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button were languishing in the midfield with underpowered Honda engines and an unmotivated team. Stoffel Vandoorne replaced Alonso in Bahrain and scored points on his F1 debut, but the atmosphere around the team was utterly bleak.

READ MORE: All you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine

Stoffel Vandoorne recalls how McLaren staff were ‘scared of getting fired’ before Zak Brown joined

Speaking on Lucas Stewart’s YouTube channel, the former Belgian F1 driver recalled his time at McLaren. Staff were living in fear of losing their jobs before Brown came in to rebuild and transform the team.

“Yeah, I mean Lando [Norris] was obviously part of the plans, but I think that wasn’t the only plan,” he said. “I think there was a lot of politics within the team.

“I think, even if you speak with Zak now, he’ll say that. He came in and I think the whole facility needed a restructure. So I think drivers were part of that plan, but also on the technical side, you could feel the results weren’t there.

“Everyone was kind of scared to voice their talks. They were scared of getting fired. And I think what Zak did was put people in different positions.

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“I think Andrea and Gil back then kind of restructured the whole team from scratch and kind of built a new culture within the team, which obviously now led to massive success for them.”

Brown deserves huge credit for the job he has done at McLaren. He steered the team away from near-administration to world champions in 2024. In 2025, they won both titles, with Norris clinching his first drivers’ championship.

McLaren are now valued at £3.59bn, the highest valuation they have ever had, marking a 78% increase from the previous year. The team are going from strength to strength, and will only get stronger under Brown’s leadership.