What sharp-tongued Bernie Ecclestone told Zak Brown direct to his face
Bernie Ecclestone does not find Zak Brown very talented, but finding the right people is a talent of his
Former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone is never shy to speak his mind, as McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown recently found out.
In Ecclestone’s opinion, Brown is not “very talented”, and he told the McLaren chief that straight up to his face. But, a crucial talent he does see in the American is his ability to surround himself with the right people. That has triggered McLaren’s return to title-winning ways.
Bernie Ecclestone spots crucial Zak Brown talent
Following on from securing the 2024 Constructors’ crown, McLaren are poised to seal the title double this season. Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are exclusively locked in battle over the Drivers’ Championship, while McLaren are 337 points out front.
Ecclestone believes Piastri and Norris hit the jackpot to be in such a competitive position, while he also passed on his rather blunt opinion of Brown directly to him.
But, after the bad news, came the good news from Ecclestone to Brown.
“You can see how lucky these guys are to be in the right team at the right time,” Ecclestone said of Piastri and Norris, in conversation with sport.de.
“There were certainly some drivers who were better than today’s drivers, but who never had the chance to show their strengths to anyone.
“Zak Brown is doing a very good job. I recently said to him, because I’ve known him for a long time: ‘I don’t think you’re very talented, but one of your talents is that you choose the right people to work for you’.
“He has the right people around him and he keeps them together. The people at McLaren are doing a good job.”
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Zak Brown deserves a huge amount of credit
McLaren’s re-emergence as a Formula 1 force has been swift and emphatic. A large portion of the credit must go to Zak Brown.
Brown arrived at McLaren in 2016, and took on his current McLaren Racing chief executive officer position in 2018. He found an organisation in crisis.
However, fast forward to the present day McLaren, and the turnaround is stark. With overall responsibility for the racing organisation, Brown made the bold call to promote Andrea Stella to the team principal role from 2023, following the departure of Andreas Seidl.
That proved a masterstroke, as by the following year, McLaren were Constructors’ Champions, for the first time since 1998. Both the Constructors’ and Drivers’ titles are coming McLaren’s way in an outstanding 2025 campaign.
Under Brown’s leadership, McLaren has also brought together arguably the strongest driver pairing on the grid in Piastri and Norris.
While Norris came through the McLaren academy, the team fought tooth and nail, through legal disputes, to snatch Piastri from Alpine. To some, it looked like quite the risk to take for a driver yet to even debut in F1, regardless of his trophy-laden junior career.
Three seasons into his F1 career, and Piastri leads the Drivers’ Championship by 31 points from Norris with eight rounds to go. Chalk up another success for Brown.
Off the track, McLaren is also booming commercially. Mastercard will become the team’s title sponsor from 2026, a partnership widely reported to be worth $100 million a year.
Under Brown, McLaren has transformed from a historic F1 team clinging on for dear life, into a modern day force with incredibly strong foundations and pillars in place to keep the good times rolling.
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