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Interview with McLaren CEO Zak Brown

Sports Car Digest’s Dennis Gray Sits Down With Zak Brown at Velocity Invitational 2021.

Dennis Gray
The McLaren garage was filled with former F1 cars and a crew of technicians and laptops to support them. © Rex McAfee

Saturday November 13th, I sat down with McLaren Racing’s Chief Executive Officer Zak Brown. The conversation took place in McLaren’s vintage Condor motor home, painted in…you guessed it, McLaren Orange. As CEO of McLaren Racing, Zak has the overall responsibility for setting the direction of McLaren racing, overall business performance, as well as making sure the team delivers results on race weekends. Did I miss anything?

The 1971 Condor was a motor-home that McLaren used for trackside meetings, and obviously painted in McLaren orange. © Rex McAfee

For the 2021 Velocity Invitational held at Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca, Zak and McLaren Racing brought four “now-retired” Formula 1 cars along with two-time World Champion Mika Häkkinen to give demonstration laps. Along with Mika, Zak drove the cars as did American vintage racer Charles Nearburg who was rumored to be buying the MP4/26 for his stable. If you have ever seen Charles pilot his Williams F1 car during a Masters Historic F1 event, you know he is one quick driver.

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