New Ron Dennis revelation comes to light after Sky F1 man ‘kicked out’ for wearing jeans

McLaren’s healthy working culture under Zak Brown has been cited as key to the team’s hopes of holding on to key staff members behind its F1 2025 dominance.

It comes after Ted Kravitz revealed that a Sky F1 colleague was once “kicked out” of the McLaren Technology Centre by former boss Ron Dennis for wearing jeans.

McLaren’s environment and culture ‘very important’

Losing key staff is a problem that befalls all championship-winning teams, with Mercedes losing key engine staff to Red Bull Powertrains while Red Bull lost the likes of Rob Marshall and Adrian Newey to McLaren and Aston Martin respectively.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown reportedly called it his “biggest challenge” to avoid breaking up the band that led it back to success.

After Red Bull dominated the first two seasons in Formula 1’s ground-effect aerodynamic era, even securing the double in 2023 along with the 1-2 in the Drivers’ standings, McLaren clawed its way into the fight last season.

The Woking team won six grands prix to beat Ferrari to the teams’ trophy by 14 points while Lando Norris launched an attack on Max Verstappen for the World title, one that fell apart with Verstappen’s epic drive from 16th to first in a wet Brazilian Grand Prix. He wrapped up the title a race later in Las Vegas.

This year, though, it’s been all McLaren in both championships.

The MCL39 has been in a league of its own as McLaren has claimed seven 1-2 results and 12 grand prix wins to secure the Constructors’ title in Singapore, matching Red Bull for the earliest success with six race weekends remaining, while Oscar Piastri and Norris are first and second in the Drivers’ title race.

F1 2025: The season’s winners and losers

👉 The results of the F1 2025 championship

👉 The updated Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship standings

Success, though, brings with it different problems with Brown reportedly telling Simon Lazenby that retaining key personnel is now the challenge.

Last year McLaren locked in team principal Andrea Stella, signing the Italian for “multiple years”, while technical director of aerodynamics Peter Prodromou also extended with the team. Chief designer Marshall joined the team in 2024 on a mulWi-year contract.

Speaking on the Sky F1 podcast, Lazenby said: “I spoke to Zak earlier this year, he said the biggest challenge he’s got now is not to break the band up, because it’s happened to all of the great teams in the past [including] Mercedes and Red Bull.

“When you’re on top, people start to poach your best people. I’m sure he’s locked them all down contractually, because he’s got a very decent Band of Brothers – and sisters – at the moment.”

Guest pundit and three-time W Series winner Jamie Chadwick agreed that keeping the team together would be key to McLaren’s continued success.

However, she warned that doing that would entail more than just on-track performance; it’s also about the environment and atmosphere within the team.

“Exactly,” she said, “that’s the thing.

“And it’s also that’s where environment and culture within a team is very important.

“You can be winning, but the culture and the environment cannot be nice and not be somewhere that you want to come into work. You want to succeed and you want everyone to win.

“So I think that’s what they do a very, very good job of. It’s funny, you speak to most people that work there and they enjoy it, and they’re happy.

“Motorsport is a tough world for everyone. It’s a huge amount of weekends away. It’s a lifestyle. It’s not a job. A lot of the time you are fully committed to being in a race team.

“I think that’s a very important thing that they need to keep harmony within, and that does also stem from the drivers and the dynamic between them and the rest of the team. So it’s something they do a great job of.

“They need to keep that and then also they need to keep on top. Everyone wants to win. No one wants to be always finishing at the back. So keeping on top is important as well.”

The ‘jeans’ effect at McLaren

Establishing an environment where people are happy and want to work sometimes comes down to the little things – like jeans.

The conversation about the atmosphere reminded Kravitz of a time when McLaren banned jeans, even booting out a sound technician who was visiting the McLaren Technology Centre for Sky Sports for wearing jeans.

Today, according to Kravitz, denim is permitted.

“Simon, do you think the new McLaren is a more chilled-out place to work?” Kravitz asked. “Apparently, you’re allowed to wear jeans there.

“Do you remember – was it the first launch that you came to in 2012? – when one our sound guys was kicked out because he was wearing jeans?”

Lazenby: “I didn’t know that.”

Kravitz continued: “You weren’t allowed to wear jeans in the McLaren Technology Centre. Ron Dennis [former McLaren CEO and chairman] would never allow you to wear jeans.

“And I think you can now wear jeans.

“As Jamie says, chilled out, a bit more of a chilled out place, people respond to that. And maybe that’s reflected.”

Lazenby added: “It’s the little things, isn’t it? But a lot of it comes from top down.

“Zak needs to be serious when he’s serious, but he can be quite a chill cat. And I think that’s rubbing off on the rest of them.”

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