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Brown jokes that Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was "the worst two hours of my life"
An elated Zak Brown jokes that the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was "the worst two hours of my life" after Lando Norris' victory sealed the constructors' championship title for the British team, with their glory giving the papaya-coloured team their first title since 1998.
McLaren came into the Grand Prix with a 21-point gap over title rivals Ferrari, and it did not get off the best of starts as Oscar Piastri collided with Max Verstappen, sending the Australian right to the back of the grid. He did recover to take a singular point in P10, but it was all to do with Norris and his win.
The Brit came under pressure from Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc in P2 and P3, respectively, with the latter coming from P19 to finish on the podium. However, his second-phase race pace meant he drove away from the Ferrari pair and sealed McLaren's first team title in 26 years.
Brown: "I love everybody at Woking!"
Speaking to Sky Sports right as the Grand Prix finished, an ecstatic Brown said: "I love everyone in Woking! What an awesome team effort, all the men and women at McLaren! Amazing! That was stressful." He was then asked about Norris delivering for the team, saying: "Man he did! Yes he did!"
The CEO then joined the Brit on the podium to celebrate the success of his team, shouting loudly in celebration. He joined the Sky Sports crew once again after celebrating in the McLaren garage, joking about the stress of the race: "That was the worst two hours of my life, by far. Lando drove brilliantly. Unfortunate what happened to Oscar at the start, but the team was flawless. They executed, the pit stop was great. I think I was the only one that was about ready to have a heart attack for two hours."
Again, the American was extremely complimentary of Norris: "In that race, he carried us. To not make any mistakes, we were worried about safety cars, I was worried about everything. He drove flawlessly, as he's done. So next, try and repeat Constructors and get the Drivers. I'll let Oscar and Lando figure that one out!"
But what was the biggest change in McLaren's fortunes? "Andrea Stella. He's done such a good job of leading this team. He's just an unbelievable leader. He leads by example. He empowers people. He's very technical. He pushes everyone to get the best out of them and that's what you saw tonight."
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